Chapter 16: Hagrid's New Pet
After asking Remus a few more questions, the group left the library for bed. They hadn't noticed how late it had gotten. The next few days went a lot better than Remus could ever have imagined. His friends stuck by him and he felt a new sense of freedom, to have told his closest friends his huge secret. Soon it was the weekend, and Lily suggested that they go visit Hagrid. They had been to see him a few times before, but not since Christmas, and he hadn't met Peter yet. Everyone thought this sounded like a good idea, so they got bundled up in their thickest winter clothes and trudged through the snow to Hagrid's hut. Lily pounded on the door as the six first years stood shivering on the doorstep.
Hagrid opened the door. When he saw who was there, he smiled broadly. "Well 'ello!" he said loudly. Then he saw how cold they were and yelled, "'urry up, ge' in 'ere! It's freezin' out there, you should have stayed in the castle." They hustled in, as ordered, and sat in front of Hagrid's roaring fire and began to peel off the layers of clothes they were wearing.
Hagrid sat down, beaming at them. When he noticed Peter, he said, "Oy, 'o's this?"
Remus smiled. "This is Peter Pettigrew," he said. "Peter, this is Hagrid...uh..." He looked at Hagrid.
Hagrid had looked a bit puzzled at being introduced to Peter (they had told Hagrid about how he stopped talking to them), but he spoke up, extending his hand. "Rubeus Hagrid's the name. Keeper of the Grounds."
Peter shook Hagrid's hand, but the large man's grip was too much for him. "Ow!" he yelled, pulling his hand away.
Hagrid laughed. "Sorry, lad. I didn't mean tuh hurt yeh." To everyone, he said, "'ow were your 'olidays?"
Sirius and James began to talk excitedly about their adventures at James' and what a cool broom Remus got. Hagrid's booming laugh stopped them after a few minutes. "Sounds like a blast. You were all there except Peter? What were you up to?" he inquired politely.
"I was here at school," Peter admitted. "My parents decided to take a trip, and James and I weren't on the best of terms then, so I didn't get invited there." Peter smiled at James. "But I realized my mistakes and we've worked things out."
"Tha's good tuh hear," Hagrid said. "I bought myself something nice over break."
"What is it?" Lily asked excitedly.
Hagrid smiled. "I hoped you'd ask." He walked over to a large cage that stood in the corner of his hut. "You'll love this!" he said, opening the door.
Out of the cage crawled a very small, but odd-looking creature. It looked somewhat like a spider, but it had only five legs. Its hideous body was covered in reddish brown hair and its legs ended in clubfeet. It appeared to be surveying Hagrid's hand to find the best spot to start eating it.
"It's a Hairy MacBoon," Hagrid said with pride. "Proper name is quintaped, or somethin'. They are very rare, livin' only on the Island of Drear off of the very north of Sco'land."
"I've never heard of the Island of Drear," Remus said.
"Of course you haven't, Remus. They've made it unplottable," Hagrid exclaimed.
"What's that mean?" Austin asked, watching the quintaped's hairy legs move across Hagrid's large hand.
"You can't put it on a map," Hagrid explained. "'ogwarts is unplottable as well. Can't have rival schools finding us, can we?"
"Why is Drear unplottable?" Sirius asked nervously. "It isn't because the Hairy MacBoons live there, is it?"
Hagrid looked puzzled. "I don't rightly know, Sirius. It could be."
"What does it eat?" Lily asked as the creature prepared to make a feast out of Hagrid's pinky finger.
"Well, out in nature, they prefer humans, but I'm gonna see if I can't train this little guy to eat chicken," Hagrid said, petting the quintaped affectionately. He yelped as the thing bit into his finger. "Ow! I can see little Martin is getting hungry. Try this," he said, setting Martin back in the cage with a plate of chicken.
"You've named it?" James said in astonishment.
"'ow can I not name a pet?" Hagrid replied.
"That thing is your pet?" Peter exclaimed in horror.
"O' course. What'd you think I had him for?"
They looked nervously around at one another. Suddenly James said, "Well Hagrid, we'd love to stay, but we have some homework we really need to be starting."
Hagrid looked crestfallen as the other five stood up and nodded in agreement. "Well, yur schoolwork has to come first," he said. "But come down and see how Martin has grown the next time you get a chance!"
"Yeah right," Sirius muttered under his breath as they rushed out the door, pulling on their warm clothes.
Remus was in the library reading up on quintapeds in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and growing quite worried when Lily joined him. He smiled when he saw her walk in, and that crazy feeling in his stomach started working overtime. She sat next to him and put one of her hands over his.
"Hey," she said. "What are you reading?"
"I was actually reading up on quintapeds to see what Hagrid's gotten himself into. It doesn't seem good," Remus said shaking his head.
Lily nodded. "We'll have to try to talk to him, but I don't think it'll do much good." She looked at Remus cautiously. "I noticed at dinner today that the moon is getting close to being full."
"Yeah, a few more days and then to the Shrieking Shack I go," Remus said, trying hard to smile.
"I wish there was a way for us to be with you, so you don't have to go through that alone," Lily replied thoughtfully.
Remus' temper flared up. He did not want his friends to be putting themselves in danger because they knew the truth. "There's no possible way. It would be too risky!" Remus said loudly.
"I don't want us to be at risk!" Lily yelled back. "I'm just going to see if anyone else can come up with a foolproof plan for us to be with you. If no one thinks of one, we'll leave you alone like you want!"
The librarian was glaring at them from across the room by that time, so Remus tried to calm the situation down. "I know," he said. "Don't get upset. I just don't want anything to happen to any of you." He looked deep into her emerald eyes and her anger melted away.
"I know," she said. "And it is so sweet of you to be worried, but I assure you, we can all take care of ourselves." After she said this, the entrance of Snape's group of Slytherins interrupted them.
"What have we here?" Snape snarled at the two. "Mudblood love?"
Remus jumped out of his seat, preparing to punch Snape in his overly large nose, but he stopped when he saw Lily had beaten him to his target. She stomped on his foot, spit on his face, and ran away before Snape could react. Remus stifled a laugh. To Snape he said, "Guess being wizard born doesn't prevent you from being beat by a girl," and he quickly exited the library.
He turned a corner, where he was ambushed by a wave of auburn hair. "You scared me, Lily!" he exclaimed.
She giggled. "Did you see the look on his face when I spit on him? He couldn't believe I'd fight back!"
"I was surprised, too," Remus said, looking at her proudly.
"You'll soon find I'm full of surprises," Lily said, still laughing. "Let's get away quickly before he sends Crabbe and Goyle after us. They'd just have to sit on us and we'd be goners."
Remus joined in her laughter and they ran down the hallway to find safety, and to share their encounter with the rest of their friends.
After asking Remus a few more questions, the group left the library for bed. They hadn't noticed how late it had gotten. The next few days went a lot better than Remus could ever have imagined. His friends stuck by him and he felt a new sense of freedom, to have told his closest friends his huge secret. Soon it was the weekend, and Lily suggested that they go visit Hagrid. They had been to see him a few times before, but not since Christmas, and he hadn't met Peter yet. Everyone thought this sounded like a good idea, so they got bundled up in their thickest winter clothes and trudged through the snow to Hagrid's hut. Lily pounded on the door as the six first years stood shivering on the doorstep.
Hagrid opened the door. When he saw who was there, he smiled broadly. "Well 'ello!" he said loudly. Then he saw how cold they were and yelled, "'urry up, ge' in 'ere! It's freezin' out there, you should have stayed in the castle." They hustled in, as ordered, and sat in front of Hagrid's roaring fire and began to peel off the layers of clothes they were wearing.
Hagrid sat down, beaming at them. When he noticed Peter, he said, "Oy, 'o's this?"
Remus smiled. "This is Peter Pettigrew," he said. "Peter, this is Hagrid...uh..." He looked at Hagrid.
Hagrid had looked a bit puzzled at being introduced to Peter (they had told Hagrid about how he stopped talking to them), but he spoke up, extending his hand. "Rubeus Hagrid's the name. Keeper of the Grounds."
Peter shook Hagrid's hand, but the large man's grip was too much for him. "Ow!" he yelled, pulling his hand away.
Hagrid laughed. "Sorry, lad. I didn't mean tuh hurt yeh." To everyone, he said, "'ow were your 'olidays?"
Sirius and James began to talk excitedly about their adventures at James' and what a cool broom Remus got. Hagrid's booming laugh stopped them after a few minutes. "Sounds like a blast. You were all there except Peter? What were you up to?" he inquired politely.
"I was here at school," Peter admitted. "My parents decided to take a trip, and James and I weren't on the best of terms then, so I didn't get invited there." Peter smiled at James. "But I realized my mistakes and we've worked things out."
"Tha's good tuh hear," Hagrid said. "I bought myself something nice over break."
"What is it?" Lily asked excitedly.
Hagrid smiled. "I hoped you'd ask." He walked over to a large cage that stood in the corner of his hut. "You'll love this!" he said, opening the door.
Out of the cage crawled a very small, but odd-looking creature. It looked somewhat like a spider, but it had only five legs. Its hideous body was covered in reddish brown hair and its legs ended in clubfeet. It appeared to be surveying Hagrid's hand to find the best spot to start eating it.
"It's a Hairy MacBoon," Hagrid said with pride. "Proper name is quintaped, or somethin'. They are very rare, livin' only on the Island of Drear off of the very north of Sco'land."
"I've never heard of the Island of Drear," Remus said.
"Of course you haven't, Remus. They've made it unplottable," Hagrid exclaimed.
"What's that mean?" Austin asked, watching the quintaped's hairy legs move across Hagrid's large hand.
"You can't put it on a map," Hagrid explained. "'ogwarts is unplottable as well. Can't have rival schools finding us, can we?"
"Why is Drear unplottable?" Sirius asked nervously. "It isn't because the Hairy MacBoons live there, is it?"
Hagrid looked puzzled. "I don't rightly know, Sirius. It could be."
"What does it eat?" Lily asked as the creature prepared to make a feast out of Hagrid's pinky finger.
"Well, out in nature, they prefer humans, but I'm gonna see if I can't train this little guy to eat chicken," Hagrid said, petting the quintaped affectionately. He yelped as the thing bit into his finger. "Ow! I can see little Martin is getting hungry. Try this," he said, setting Martin back in the cage with a plate of chicken.
"You've named it?" James said in astonishment.
"'ow can I not name a pet?" Hagrid replied.
"That thing is your pet?" Peter exclaimed in horror.
"O' course. What'd you think I had him for?"
They looked nervously around at one another. Suddenly James said, "Well Hagrid, we'd love to stay, but we have some homework we really need to be starting."
Hagrid looked crestfallen as the other five stood up and nodded in agreement. "Well, yur schoolwork has to come first," he said. "But come down and see how Martin has grown the next time you get a chance!"
"Yeah right," Sirius muttered under his breath as they rushed out the door, pulling on their warm clothes.
Remus was in the library reading up on quintapeds in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them and growing quite worried when Lily joined him. He smiled when he saw her walk in, and that crazy feeling in his stomach started working overtime. She sat next to him and put one of her hands over his.
"Hey," she said. "What are you reading?"
"I was actually reading up on quintapeds to see what Hagrid's gotten himself into. It doesn't seem good," Remus said shaking his head.
Lily nodded. "We'll have to try to talk to him, but I don't think it'll do much good." She looked at Remus cautiously. "I noticed at dinner today that the moon is getting close to being full."
"Yeah, a few more days and then to the Shrieking Shack I go," Remus said, trying hard to smile.
"I wish there was a way for us to be with you, so you don't have to go through that alone," Lily replied thoughtfully.
Remus' temper flared up. He did not want his friends to be putting themselves in danger because they knew the truth. "There's no possible way. It would be too risky!" Remus said loudly.
"I don't want us to be at risk!" Lily yelled back. "I'm just going to see if anyone else can come up with a foolproof plan for us to be with you. If no one thinks of one, we'll leave you alone like you want!"
The librarian was glaring at them from across the room by that time, so Remus tried to calm the situation down. "I know," he said. "Don't get upset. I just don't want anything to happen to any of you." He looked deep into her emerald eyes and her anger melted away.
"I know," she said. "And it is so sweet of you to be worried, but I assure you, we can all take care of ourselves." After she said this, the entrance of Snape's group of Slytherins interrupted them.
"What have we here?" Snape snarled at the two. "Mudblood love?"
Remus jumped out of his seat, preparing to punch Snape in his overly large nose, but he stopped when he saw Lily had beaten him to his target. She stomped on his foot, spit on his face, and ran away before Snape could react. Remus stifled a laugh. To Snape he said, "Guess being wizard born doesn't prevent you from being beat by a girl," and he quickly exited the library.
He turned a corner, where he was ambushed by a wave of auburn hair. "You scared me, Lily!" he exclaimed.
She giggled. "Did you see the look on his face when I spit on him? He couldn't believe I'd fight back!"
"I was surprised, too," Remus said, looking at her proudly.
"You'll soon find I'm full of surprises," Lily said, still laughing. "Let's get away quickly before he sends Crabbe and Goyle after us. They'd just have to sit on us and we'd be goners."
Remus joined in her laughter and they ran down the hallway to find safety, and to share their encounter with the rest of their friends.