Chapter 8 – Tea, Dinner, & Discussions
The three left the castle and walked across the grounds; Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door.
When Harry knocked politely there was a frantic scrambling from the other side of the door, and several booming barks nearly shook the door; then quite clearly they could hear Hagrid's voice ringing out, "Back, Fang – back!"
Suddenly his big hairy face appeared as he cracked open the doorway, "Hang on; BACK FANG!"
He opened the door all the way and let them in, struggling to keep a hod on the collar of an enormous black boarhound.
There was only one room inside; hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling , a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.
"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid letting go of Fang who bounded straight towards a very hesitant Ron and started licking his ear. Disgust and slight fear waged war on his face and Harry and Hermione had to hide a smirk at the sight. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.
"This is Ron and Hermione." Harry told Hagrid who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.
"Well, yer another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles, " I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."
Chuckling Hagrid turned to Hermione, "and it's a pleasure ta meetcha missy, muggleborn, eh? Now you three are definitely somethin' new in Slytherin, 'bout time they got some new blood."
As the four seated themselves at the large table they tastefully pushed aside the shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth that Hagrid cheerfully called rock cakes. Then they told him all about their first lessons as Fang rested his head on Harry's knee and drooled all over his robes.
Hagrid belly laughed at Professor's Flitwick's reaction to Harry's name on the roll call and looked slightly surprised when he heard about Snape's lesson before he told them not worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students.
Hermione broke in there, "Yes, but we are the only three Slytherins he treats like this, I mean every other house and everyone in Slytherin was surprised as well!"
"And he really seems to HATE me."
"Rubbish!" said Hagrid "Why should he?"
Harry and the other two couldn't help thinking that Hagrid didn't quite meet their eyes when he said that.
Turning to Ron he spoke again, "How's yer brother Charlie? Hagrid asked Ron, "I liked him a lot – great with animals."
Harry wondered if Hagrid had changed the subject on purpose. While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons and Hermione listened interested Harry picked up a pice of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cozy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet:
GRINGOTT'S BREAK-IN LATEST
Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely
believed to be work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringott's goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault
that was serched had in fact been emptied the same day. "But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.
Harry remembered hearing someone mention a Gringotts break-in, but he didn't remember hearing the date. Hagrid had emptied a vault while they were there, that had to be it, why else would he have the clipping?
Quickly Harry slipped the piece of newspaper into his robe to mull over later, in the mess that was Hagrid's house it probably wouldn't even be missed.
As the three ended their visit and walked back to the castle for dinner Ron and Hermione noticed that Harry seemed a little distracted, he was off in his own world thinking, had Hagrid collected that package just in time? Where was it now? And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn't want to tell Harry?
Diiner that night was fairly boring, though the three of them did have fascinating discussion with Baron Alexander about the building of Hogwarts and the wards that were used to surround it.
All three looked at the Headmaster with a little more respect when they heard that he maintained the wards on the castle, holding them himself; it took quite a significant amount of power to hold the wards on a place as vast and powerful as Hogwarts. The castle nearly breathed with it's own life.
After dinner Harry, Hermione, and Ron headed back towards their dorm rooms for a serious discussion, after listening to Isis this morning they had decided that it was time for them to talk to eachother, they could trust one another.
Quickly ducking through the portrait the fire flared to life the minute they entered warming the rather cold room after their long absence. Isis stirred on one wall, opening her slitted eyes as she stretched her coiled body, "Good evening my sssnake children."
Harry was the first to respond, "Good evening Isssisss I believe we have sssome dissscusssionsss to have."
The snake looked pleased and serious as she looked at the three, "Ssso you actually lissstened to me thisss morning? Very good, who isss ssstarting?"
Ron sighed and sat on the couch, the other two joined him immediately surrounding him protectively, slowly he began to speak in Parseltongue since emotion was much more expressive, and he wasn't sure he could do it in English.
"I sssuppossse I owe you an explanation for what happened in the hallway. Obviousssly you met two of my older brothersss earlier, Fred and George, the twinsss. All together there isss eight of usss, ssseven boysss and one girl. Bill is a cursssebreaker with Gringott'sss Bank, Charlie worksss with dragonsss and Ginny isss the youngessst. The one you met in the hall isss Percy, the oldessst one ssstill living at home."
Taking a deep breath and with a shudder Ron continued, "At the beginning of thisss sssummer he ssstarted to hang out with me more, usssually he isss very poofisssh and it wasss cool when he hung out with me. Towardsss the end of June he ssstarted coming into my room after everyone wasss in bed and ... touching me. He wasss quiet and told me it wasssn't anything, I believed him at firssst and didn't tell; and then one night he took it up a ssstep and made me sssuck him off. It jussst got worssse from there. I couldn't tell, my parentsss would think itsss my fault, and now he wantsss to keep it up here, that isss why I begged the sssorting hat not to put me in Gryffindor."
A pale shaky Ron leaned back into the couch, it did feel slightly better that someone else knew and he could hear Isis make soothing hisses from her portrait on the wall. Harry and Hermione both huddled around him sharing the pain he seemed to hold. They all had their own demons and Ron had just shared his. Hermione spoke fiercely, "Not a chance, we would let him! There is no way you are ever doing it again Burn, your parents would never blame you for your brother's problems!"
Harry nodded in agreement, but they both saw it would take a lot more to convince Ron of that, so they simply resolved to keep pounding it into his head until he believed it and was willing to tell someone, the sooner the better.
Harry took a deep breath and slowly pulled off his robe and his shirt, "I guesss a visssual can sssay a thousssand wordsss." He said as he showed them his back, the old scars and the new ones starting to form; he heard the indrawn breath and continued bitterly, "My 'uncle'ssss' idea of dissscipline. They hate me, the people who are my blood think I am a freak, lower then the dirt in their garden. I do everything, I am nothing but a ssslave to them! I have done all the cooking sssince I could reach the ssstove and have done all the cleaning even before that. Anytime they were not happy my aunt would tell my uncle and he would punisssh me for whatever I did. Usssually they locked me in my cupboard and wouldn't feed me. Sssoon the hunger wasss the only thing I could control."
The two knew what he meant, each of them had their own control mechanisms in the downward spirals of lives; Ron's attitude and clothes, Hermione's blade, and Harry's eating habits, each was the one thing that they had complete control over.
Hermione could nearly count his every rib as she looked at the other boy, "Bolt, have you been eating? It'sss not that I am lecturing, but I refussse to let you ssstarve to death."
Isis immediately drew her attention to Harry narrowing her eyes and hissing, "You had better eat, I have every sssnake and Ssslytherin picture in thisss cassstle keeping an eye on you, and if I hear one thing about you getting ssskinnier, you will be in ssso much trouble!"
Even despite the depressing discussion Isis sound so much like a threatening mother hen the three teens couldn't help but have a small smile, the tone and the delivery were all just like a exasperated mother.
Harry started to pull back on his shirt and looked at the other two seriously, "Sssometimesss I think I dessserved it; I mean they are my family, I mussst be a freak and a wassste of ssspace if not even thossse who I am attached to by blood feel anything but hatred for me."
This time it was Ron who spoke fiercely, "NEVER...EVER....believe that you dessserved any of it, we are connected, we are family, blood binding, passst and future connected, we are family now, and nothing will change that. WE are the only onesss to control our fate."
Isis bobbed approvingly from her portrait as Harry threw back on his shirt and sat back down on the couch mulling over what Ron had just said, in a strange way it made him feel more powerful to choose his family by association and not by blood.
Hermione sighed realizing it was finally her turn, she started reluctantly "I wasss not a planned child, the only reassson my parentsss got married isss becaussse my mother wasss pregnant with me. All they do isss fight, usssually about who wanted me, or who thought they ssshould of aborted me. They'll fight and throw thingsss, tear thingsss up and curssse and then ssstorm out of the houssse to go sssee their lover. The only time they will ever notice me isss when I am perfect, and then all I get isss the acknowledgement that I am actually alive and living in their houssse. You would think that thossse who gave birth to you would actually care and not ignore you 99% of the time!"
Taking a deep breath Hermione felt twin hands twining with her own lending her their own warmth and strength, "One day after they ssstormed out I wasss hungry and went downssstairs to grab a sssandwich, I was upssset hearing what they sssaid and the knife ssslipped and I cut myssself; it wasss like ... all my pain jussst disssappeared with the blood. It wasss addicting, I kept doing it, it'sss easssier not to do here, but it jussst feelsss so right, I can't ssstop."
Harry knelt in front of Hermione while Ron took both her hands, "Brigid, you are intelligent, beautiful, and a have a wonderful sssoul, there isss no reassson for you to ssstain your hands with blood. Talk to usss next time you want to cut, we are here for you in anyway we can be."
Hermione blinked away the wetness in her eyes and reached inside her robe withdrawing the small sharp knife from the interior. With shaking hands she held it out to Harry, "Will you hold thisss for me? I...I think I want you two to have it ."
Gingerly Harry took the knife immediately sheathing it in a cloth and burying it in his robes, "Thank you Brigid."
With that the three gathered themselves on the couch watching the flames dance in the large and ornate stone fireplace, Isis looked down on them, sad and proud at the same time, "I am ssso proud of you my sssnake children, you are ssstronger then othersss and you are my children in all but blood. Go to sssleep now and ressst easssy, the burden is not yoursss alone to carry ever again."
The three exhausted first-years stood up and stumbled towards their bedrooms, each one immediately pulling on some pajamas and falling into bed, asleep the minute their head hit the pillow.
The three left the castle and walked across the grounds; Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door.
When Harry knocked politely there was a frantic scrambling from the other side of the door, and several booming barks nearly shook the door; then quite clearly they could hear Hagrid's voice ringing out, "Back, Fang – back!"
Suddenly his big hairy face appeared as he cracked open the doorway, "Hang on; BACK FANG!"
He opened the door all the way and let them in, struggling to keep a hod on the collar of an enormous black boarhound.
There was only one room inside; hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling , a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.
"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid letting go of Fang who bounded straight towards a very hesitant Ron and started licking his ear. Disgust and slight fear waged war on his face and Harry and Hermione had to hide a smirk at the sight. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.
"This is Ron and Hermione." Harry told Hagrid who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.
"Well, yer another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles, " I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."
Chuckling Hagrid turned to Hermione, "and it's a pleasure ta meetcha missy, muggleborn, eh? Now you three are definitely somethin' new in Slytherin, 'bout time they got some new blood."
As the four seated themselves at the large table they tastefully pushed aside the shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth that Hagrid cheerfully called rock cakes. Then they told him all about their first lessons as Fang rested his head on Harry's knee and drooled all over his robes.
Hagrid belly laughed at Professor's Flitwick's reaction to Harry's name on the roll call and looked slightly surprised when he heard about Snape's lesson before he told them not worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students.
Hermione broke in there, "Yes, but we are the only three Slytherins he treats like this, I mean every other house and everyone in Slytherin was surprised as well!"
"And he really seems to HATE me."
"Rubbish!" said Hagrid "Why should he?"
Harry and the other two couldn't help thinking that Hagrid didn't quite meet their eyes when he said that.
Turning to Ron he spoke again, "How's yer brother Charlie? Hagrid asked Ron, "I liked him a lot – great with animals."
Harry wondered if Hagrid had changed the subject on purpose. While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons and Hermione listened interested Harry picked up a pice of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cozy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet:
GRINGOTT'S BREAK-IN LATEST
Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely
believed to be work of Dark wizards or witches unknown. Gringott's goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault
that was serched had in fact been emptied the same day. "But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.
Harry remembered hearing someone mention a Gringotts break-in, but he didn't remember hearing the date. Hagrid had emptied a vault while they were there, that had to be it, why else would he have the clipping?
Quickly Harry slipped the piece of newspaper into his robe to mull over later, in the mess that was Hagrid's house it probably wouldn't even be missed.
As the three ended their visit and walked back to the castle for dinner Ron and Hermione noticed that Harry seemed a little distracted, he was off in his own world thinking, had Hagrid collected that package just in time? Where was it now? And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn't want to tell Harry?
Diiner that night was fairly boring, though the three of them did have fascinating discussion with Baron Alexander about the building of Hogwarts and the wards that were used to surround it.
All three looked at the Headmaster with a little more respect when they heard that he maintained the wards on the castle, holding them himself; it took quite a significant amount of power to hold the wards on a place as vast and powerful as Hogwarts. The castle nearly breathed with it's own life.
After dinner Harry, Hermione, and Ron headed back towards their dorm rooms for a serious discussion, after listening to Isis this morning they had decided that it was time for them to talk to eachother, they could trust one another.
Quickly ducking through the portrait the fire flared to life the minute they entered warming the rather cold room after their long absence. Isis stirred on one wall, opening her slitted eyes as she stretched her coiled body, "Good evening my sssnake children."
Harry was the first to respond, "Good evening Isssisss I believe we have sssome dissscusssionsss to have."
The snake looked pleased and serious as she looked at the three, "Ssso you actually lissstened to me thisss morning? Very good, who isss ssstarting?"
Ron sighed and sat on the couch, the other two joined him immediately surrounding him protectively, slowly he began to speak in Parseltongue since emotion was much more expressive, and he wasn't sure he could do it in English.
"I sssuppossse I owe you an explanation for what happened in the hallway. Obviousssly you met two of my older brothersss earlier, Fred and George, the twinsss. All together there isss eight of usss, ssseven boysss and one girl. Bill is a cursssebreaker with Gringott'sss Bank, Charlie worksss with dragonsss and Ginny isss the youngessst. The one you met in the hall isss Percy, the oldessst one ssstill living at home."
Taking a deep breath and with a shudder Ron continued, "At the beginning of thisss sssummer he ssstarted to hang out with me more, usssually he isss very poofisssh and it wasss cool when he hung out with me. Towardsss the end of June he ssstarted coming into my room after everyone wasss in bed and ... touching me. He wasss quiet and told me it wasssn't anything, I believed him at firssst and didn't tell; and then one night he took it up a ssstep and made me sssuck him off. It jussst got worssse from there. I couldn't tell, my parentsss would think itsss my fault, and now he wantsss to keep it up here, that isss why I begged the sssorting hat not to put me in Gryffindor."
A pale shaky Ron leaned back into the couch, it did feel slightly better that someone else knew and he could hear Isis make soothing hisses from her portrait on the wall. Harry and Hermione both huddled around him sharing the pain he seemed to hold. They all had their own demons and Ron had just shared his. Hermione spoke fiercely, "Not a chance, we would let him! There is no way you are ever doing it again Burn, your parents would never blame you for your brother's problems!"
Harry nodded in agreement, but they both saw it would take a lot more to convince Ron of that, so they simply resolved to keep pounding it into his head until he believed it and was willing to tell someone, the sooner the better.
Harry took a deep breath and slowly pulled off his robe and his shirt, "I guesss a visssual can sssay a thousssand wordsss." He said as he showed them his back, the old scars and the new ones starting to form; he heard the indrawn breath and continued bitterly, "My 'uncle'ssss' idea of dissscipline. They hate me, the people who are my blood think I am a freak, lower then the dirt in their garden. I do everything, I am nothing but a ssslave to them! I have done all the cooking sssince I could reach the ssstove and have done all the cleaning even before that. Anytime they were not happy my aunt would tell my uncle and he would punisssh me for whatever I did. Usssually they locked me in my cupboard and wouldn't feed me. Sssoon the hunger wasss the only thing I could control."
The two knew what he meant, each of them had their own control mechanisms in the downward spirals of lives; Ron's attitude and clothes, Hermione's blade, and Harry's eating habits, each was the one thing that they had complete control over.
Hermione could nearly count his every rib as she looked at the other boy, "Bolt, have you been eating? It'sss not that I am lecturing, but I refussse to let you ssstarve to death."
Isis immediately drew her attention to Harry narrowing her eyes and hissing, "You had better eat, I have every sssnake and Ssslytherin picture in thisss cassstle keeping an eye on you, and if I hear one thing about you getting ssskinnier, you will be in ssso much trouble!"
Even despite the depressing discussion Isis sound so much like a threatening mother hen the three teens couldn't help but have a small smile, the tone and the delivery were all just like a exasperated mother.
Harry started to pull back on his shirt and looked at the other two seriously, "Sssometimesss I think I dessserved it; I mean they are my family, I mussst be a freak and a wassste of ssspace if not even thossse who I am attached to by blood feel anything but hatred for me."
This time it was Ron who spoke fiercely, "NEVER...EVER....believe that you dessserved any of it, we are connected, we are family, blood binding, passst and future connected, we are family now, and nothing will change that. WE are the only onesss to control our fate."
Isis bobbed approvingly from her portrait as Harry threw back on his shirt and sat back down on the couch mulling over what Ron had just said, in a strange way it made him feel more powerful to choose his family by association and not by blood.
Hermione sighed realizing it was finally her turn, she started reluctantly "I wasss not a planned child, the only reassson my parentsss got married isss becaussse my mother wasss pregnant with me. All they do isss fight, usssually about who wanted me, or who thought they ssshould of aborted me. They'll fight and throw thingsss, tear thingsss up and curssse and then ssstorm out of the houssse to go sssee their lover. The only time they will ever notice me isss when I am perfect, and then all I get isss the acknowledgement that I am actually alive and living in their houssse. You would think that thossse who gave birth to you would actually care and not ignore you 99% of the time!"
Taking a deep breath Hermione felt twin hands twining with her own lending her their own warmth and strength, "One day after they ssstormed out I wasss hungry and went downssstairs to grab a sssandwich, I was upssset hearing what they sssaid and the knife ssslipped and I cut myssself; it wasss like ... all my pain jussst disssappeared with the blood. It wasss addicting, I kept doing it, it'sss easssier not to do here, but it jussst feelsss so right, I can't ssstop."
Harry knelt in front of Hermione while Ron took both her hands, "Brigid, you are intelligent, beautiful, and a have a wonderful sssoul, there isss no reassson for you to ssstain your hands with blood. Talk to usss next time you want to cut, we are here for you in anyway we can be."
Hermione blinked away the wetness in her eyes and reached inside her robe withdrawing the small sharp knife from the interior. With shaking hands she held it out to Harry, "Will you hold thisss for me? I...I think I want you two to have it ."
Gingerly Harry took the knife immediately sheathing it in a cloth and burying it in his robes, "Thank you Brigid."
With that the three gathered themselves on the couch watching the flames dance in the large and ornate stone fireplace, Isis looked down on them, sad and proud at the same time, "I am ssso proud of you my sssnake children, you are ssstronger then othersss and you are my children in all but blood. Go to sssleep now and ressst easssy, the burden is not yoursss alone to carry ever again."
The three exhausted first-years stood up and stumbled towards their bedrooms, each one immediately pulling on some pajamas and falling into bed, asleep the minute their head hit the pillow.