CHAPTER 5 - The Fugitive
The frost was just lifting when Ron, Hermione and Harry walked down to Hagrid's hut. They'd received a note from him at breakfast asking them to come and help him with something urgent. Seeing as they had an hours free lesson and not too much work they replied that they would.
The hems of their robes soaked up the melting ice and swished wetly around their legs. Hagrid was already waiting outside for them with Fang, his trusty boarhound.
'What's up, Hagrid?'
'It's Spud. I went out to feed 'im this mornin', but the wire was hangin' loose off his hutch. He must've forced it open somehow. The jills were still all there, but Spud weren't, little bugger. I've been whistlin' fer 'im all mornin', but still no sign of 'im. I was wonderin' if yer could 'elp me look fer 'im.'
The tightness around Hagrid's jaw showed how worried he was, despite trying to sound light-hearted about the whole thing. The three couldn't help but agree to search with him.
'Sure. A three foot ferret who's also as white as the driven snow. How could you miss him? I'm sure it won't take too long, especially if we split up.'
Tears of gratitude pricked at the corners of Hagrid's eyes, he was easily moved to tears where his animals were concerned, so they made their way off before he started blubbering for real.
Harry went down to the edge of the lake. A slight breeze rippled its surface and small smoky wisps of mist floated into the air as the bright sun began to warm the water. All the frost had melted, and had also appeared to have soaked into his robes, the lower part looking shiny from all the thaw water sitting coldly there. It was at times like these that Harry forgot all his troubles, all his past, the world was too peaceful for anything bad to happen in it. These were the times he wished would go on forever, alone in the world of nature with nothing but the uplifting sound of birds to disturb the stillness. Nothing but birds and. swearing? And very high-pitched swearing at that.
Spud.
Following the profanities, Harry noticed the arch-backed jarvey leaping and capering around a large stone, half in and half out of the water, cursing at it for all he was worth, his fur standing up in spikes and occasionally nipping at the rock.
Sneaking up on the distracted creature, Harry seized him around his broad shoulders with both hands. The jarvey screeched loudly in surprise before redirecting his insults at Harry, 'Stupid bloody scar-head! Shit-breath! Arsebiscuit!' and scrabbled madly at thin air without even pausing to take a breath.
'Shut up Spud. I'm taking you back to Hagrid.'
Still grumbling, the jarvey settled down a bit letting his body dangle with his tail just hovering above the ground. Harry was just about to set back to Hagrid's when he caught a quick glimpse of the rock that Spud had been so involved in offending. It was an even brownish green and almost smooth, but for about halfway down it where it was jagged and spiky. Beneath these spikes it looked almost blue. Blue-black definitely. Harry tied a bit of loose string around Spud's thick neck in a rough form of lead so he could examine the rock more closely. The jarvey seemed to have lost all interest now he had been caught.
Harry put his hand on the spiky bit and the bank mud crumbled off in his hand leaving a soft layer underneath it. A layer that was mottled blue- black in colour and unlike anything he had ever seen on a rock before. It was fur and this was obviously no rock.
He broke off more of the outer layer of mud to reveal more of the startling fur beneath. He eventually found the creature's head tucked somewhere beneath one of its back legs. He cleared off more of the clinging mud to see a wolf-like face with the most stunning markings he had ever seen. The fur had clear definitions between the blue and the black creating a swirling, marbled pattern. A black streak divided the face straight down between its closed eyes to the tip of its coal black nose and had two stripes crossing the centre line across the muzzle. Curved patches of white extended in two identical flashes underneath its eyes and in a broad band from its chin, down its throat until it disappeared under the mud.
'The lake must've washed it up,' Harry thought aloud, 'Shame though.' He cleared the last traces of mud from its nostrils before laying its head back down on the soft mud. He looked at it longingly, thinking of what an animal it must've been when it was alive, when he noticed something strange - the mud beneath its muzzle was rippling slightly as if from a breeze. He immediately knelt down beside it and put the back of his hand against its nostrils. It was breathing, almost imperceptibly, but it was alive!
Grabbing Spud with both hands, Harry ran as fast as he could back to Hagrid's. Ron was already there.
'I see you found him, Harry. What's the panic?'
'Panting hard, Harry gasped out as much of the situation as he could, 'Found Spud. something else too. wolf thing. thought dead. but breathing. alive. Where's Hagrid?'
'Dunno. He's not back yet.'
'Come on, we've got to find him. It'll die.'
'What'll die?'
'You'll see.'
Harry shoved Spud into one of the crates Hagrid had used on the first lesson and slammed down the lid. They set off to find Hagrid, seeing his huge frame at last at the edge of the Forest.
'Hagrid, we've found him, it's all right. But you've gotta come down to the lake, there's something there.'
'Really, you found Spud? What sort of thing?'
'It looks like a wolf or something, but it's blue.'
'Blue?' Ron and Hagrid said at the same time.
'Yes, blue, and black and white. Come on, I think it's going to die unless we do something soon.'
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The trio hurried down to the lake. The creature hadn't moved from where Harry had left it. Hagrid examined it quickly with expert hands.
'Do you know what it is, Hagrid?'
'Aye, I know what this is. It's a rith.'
'A what?' asked Harry.
'A rith, it's a bit like a dog but they normally stand on two legs. The best way you can describe them is as a domesticated werewolf.'
'Werewolf? But werewolves are mostly human, this has fur.'
'They've been bred like that to make the collection of hair and blood easier, it's almost fatal to try it with a fully changed werewolf, so riths were made. Lots of wizards keep them as pets, show 'em an' all. Wonder what happened to this one. Poor thing.' Hagrid stroked the rith's head before lifting it easily into his strong arms. 'We'd best get it somewhere warm before it dies of cold.'
Ron and Harry walked back to the hut with Hagrid, the rith flopping limply in the huge mans grasp. Hermione was waiting for them on his doorstep. 'Where've you two been? I've been waiting for ages. We're going to be so late for Potions, Snape's going to be furious. What's that?' Hermione said, noticing the rith for the first time.
'Come on, Hermione, we'll explain on the way. Good luck, Hagrid.'
Hermione was right as usual. Snape was furious, but seemed immensely pleased in handing out detentions to all three, and an extra one to Harry because of the state of his robes from where he'd been with the rith down at the lake. It could have been worse, though, at least they didn't have the Slytherins gloating at them.
At lunchtime they bolted own their food and rushed down to Hagrid's. They knocked furiously on the door before Hagrid opened it with furious shushing noises. He let them silently in with his finger to his lips, trying to make them be silent.
Stretched out in front of the fire was the rith. Hagrid had obviously spent a lot of time grooming it and had got rid of all traces of the mud that had so thoroughly caked its body. They could see that the marbled pattern of blue and black that had marked its face continued all the way along its body, as did the vertical stripe that bisected its head. Its four feet were completely black and the tip of its tail was snowy white. Tufts of long, white hair stood up from the points of its pricked ears, which were black, but edged in white. All in all it was a very attractive creature.
'I'd like you three to meet Storm.'
The riths head raised from its front paws and turned to look at them, from where it had previously been staring into the flames. Its eyes were as blue as its coat, perhaps a shade darker, and full of fear. They saw its body tense up, its meagre muscles bunching as if to flee. Hagrid went over immediately to sooth her.
'Shush now, my good girl, they won't hurt you. They're friends, friends, you understand me? There's a good girl, you relax.'
They saw the rith's taught muscles ease as Hagrid stroked her head. He motioned them to come over, which they did, although cautiously. The rith didn't seem to know what to do, whether to run from them or stay with Hagrid. She chose to just get closer to the one friend she appeared to have.
'Put out your hands, let her get your scent so she knows you're friends.'
Unwilling to put out any fleshy portion of their bodies towards a creature friendly with Hagrid, they still did so, noting the still resident in the creature's eyes.
It apprehensively extended its muzzle and sniffed gently. Its tail wagged slightly and they put their hands on her to stroke her. They could feel every bone, every joint and painfully little muscle. This was a creature who had obviously not eaten in a good while. Hagrid laid her head down on the fur rug as her eyes hooded and she fell into an exhausted sleep. They moved away to let the poor animal rest and went outside.
No one seemed to know what to say, so Hagrid spoke first, 'I've gotta find out who her owner is, I'm sure they'll be looking for her. She's a valuable animal.'
'But there's something wrong, isn't there?' Hermione had picked up on the trace of doubt in Hagrid's voice.
'Riths don't usually run away, they're very loyal creatures.'
'So, you think she's been dumped?'
'No, I don't think so.'
'What then?'
'You saw how afraid she was of you. When she first woke up she went nuts, absolutely nuts, trying to bite everyone and everything just trying to escape, but she could hardly walk.'
'So, you think.'
'I think something so bad happened to her that's she's afraid that someone's going to do it again. And if I find out what it is.'
'Calm down, Hagrid. Like you said, we've got to find out who she belongs to first.'
'You'd better get going. I don't want to make you late for lessons twice in one day. You didn't get into trouble, did yeh?'
Knowing how upset it would make Hagrid if he knew the truth, they lied, 'No, no, it was fine, Hagrid.'
'See yeh later.'
'Probably tomorrow, we've got a lot of work to do tonight.' Detention more like, but never mind.
'Okay, see yeh tomorrer!'
Hagrid crept back into his hut so as not to wake its newest resident and Harr, Ron and Hermione walked back across the grounds. If anything, Harry and Ron would have rather stayed with Hagrid than go back to lessons. Divination was always such a bore. Harry wondered with exasperation what way Professor Trelawney was going to predict that he would die this year.
The frost was just lifting when Ron, Hermione and Harry walked down to Hagrid's hut. They'd received a note from him at breakfast asking them to come and help him with something urgent. Seeing as they had an hours free lesson and not too much work they replied that they would.
The hems of their robes soaked up the melting ice and swished wetly around their legs. Hagrid was already waiting outside for them with Fang, his trusty boarhound.
'What's up, Hagrid?'
'It's Spud. I went out to feed 'im this mornin', but the wire was hangin' loose off his hutch. He must've forced it open somehow. The jills were still all there, but Spud weren't, little bugger. I've been whistlin' fer 'im all mornin', but still no sign of 'im. I was wonderin' if yer could 'elp me look fer 'im.'
The tightness around Hagrid's jaw showed how worried he was, despite trying to sound light-hearted about the whole thing. The three couldn't help but agree to search with him.
'Sure. A three foot ferret who's also as white as the driven snow. How could you miss him? I'm sure it won't take too long, especially if we split up.'
Tears of gratitude pricked at the corners of Hagrid's eyes, he was easily moved to tears where his animals were concerned, so they made their way off before he started blubbering for real.
Harry went down to the edge of the lake. A slight breeze rippled its surface and small smoky wisps of mist floated into the air as the bright sun began to warm the water. All the frost had melted, and had also appeared to have soaked into his robes, the lower part looking shiny from all the thaw water sitting coldly there. It was at times like these that Harry forgot all his troubles, all his past, the world was too peaceful for anything bad to happen in it. These were the times he wished would go on forever, alone in the world of nature with nothing but the uplifting sound of birds to disturb the stillness. Nothing but birds and. swearing? And very high-pitched swearing at that.
Spud.
Following the profanities, Harry noticed the arch-backed jarvey leaping and capering around a large stone, half in and half out of the water, cursing at it for all he was worth, his fur standing up in spikes and occasionally nipping at the rock.
Sneaking up on the distracted creature, Harry seized him around his broad shoulders with both hands. The jarvey screeched loudly in surprise before redirecting his insults at Harry, 'Stupid bloody scar-head! Shit-breath! Arsebiscuit!' and scrabbled madly at thin air without even pausing to take a breath.
'Shut up Spud. I'm taking you back to Hagrid.'
Still grumbling, the jarvey settled down a bit letting his body dangle with his tail just hovering above the ground. Harry was just about to set back to Hagrid's when he caught a quick glimpse of the rock that Spud had been so involved in offending. It was an even brownish green and almost smooth, but for about halfway down it where it was jagged and spiky. Beneath these spikes it looked almost blue. Blue-black definitely. Harry tied a bit of loose string around Spud's thick neck in a rough form of lead so he could examine the rock more closely. The jarvey seemed to have lost all interest now he had been caught.
Harry put his hand on the spiky bit and the bank mud crumbled off in his hand leaving a soft layer underneath it. A layer that was mottled blue- black in colour and unlike anything he had ever seen on a rock before. It was fur and this was obviously no rock.
He broke off more of the outer layer of mud to reveal more of the startling fur beneath. He eventually found the creature's head tucked somewhere beneath one of its back legs. He cleared off more of the clinging mud to see a wolf-like face with the most stunning markings he had ever seen. The fur had clear definitions between the blue and the black creating a swirling, marbled pattern. A black streak divided the face straight down between its closed eyes to the tip of its coal black nose and had two stripes crossing the centre line across the muzzle. Curved patches of white extended in two identical flashes underneath its eyes and in a broad band from its chin, down its throat until it disappeared under the mud.
'The lake must've washed it up,' Harry thought aloud, 'Shame though.' He cleared the last traces of mud from its nostrils before laying its head back down on the soft mud. He looked at it longingly, thinking of what an animal it must've been when it was alive, when he noticed something strange - the mud beneath its muzzle was rippling slightly as if from a breeze. He immediately knelt down beside it and put the back of his hand against its nostrils. It was breathing, almost imperceptibly, but it was alive!
Grabbing Spud with both hands, Harry ran as fast as he could back to Hagrid's. Ron was already there.
'I see you found him, Harry. What's the panic?'
'Panting hard, Harry gasped out as much of the situation as he could, 'Found Spud. something else too. wolf thing. thought dead. but breathing. alive. Where's Hagrid?'
'Dunno. He's not back yet.'
'Come on, we've got to find him. It'll die.'
'What'll die?'
'You'll see.'
Harry shoved Spud into one of the crates Hagrid had used on the first lesson and slammed down the lid. They set off to find Hagrid, seeing his huge frame at last at the edge of the Forest.
'Hagrid, we've found him, it's all right. But you've gotta come down to the lake, there's something there.'
'Really, you found Spud? What sort of thing?'
'It looks like a wolf or something, but it's blue.'
'Blue?' Ron and Hagrid said at the same time.
'Yes, blue, and black and white. Come on, I think it's going to die unless we do something soon.'
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The trio hurried down to the lake. The creature hadn't moved from where Harry had left it. Hagrid examined it quickly with expert hands.
'Do you know what it is, Hagrid?'
'Aye, I know what this is. It's a rith.'
'A what?' asked Harry.
'A rith, it's a bit like a dog but they normally stand on two legs. The best way you can describe them is as a domesticated werewolf.'
'Werewolf? But werewolves are mostly human, this has fur.'
'They've been bred like that to make the collection of hair and blood easier, it's almost fatal to try it with a fully changed werewolf, so riths were made. Lots of wizards keep them as pets, show 'em an' all. Wonder what happened to this one. Poor thing.' Hagrid stroked the rith's head before lifting it easily into his strong arms. 'We'd best get it somewhere warm before it dies of cold.'
Ron and Harry walked back to the hut with Hagrid, the rith flopping limply in the huge mans grasp. Hermione was waiting for them on his doorstep. 'Where've you two been? I've been waiting for ages. We're going to be so late for Potions, Snape's going to be furious. What's that?' Hermione said, noticing the rith for the first time.
'Come on, Hermione, we'll explain on the way. Good luck, Hagrid.'
Hermione was right as usual. Snape was furious, but seemed immensely pleased in handing out detentions to all three, and an extra one to Harry because of the state of his robes from where he'd been with the rith down at the lake. It could have been worse, though, at least they didn't have the Slytherins gloating at them.
At lunchtime they bolted own their food and rushed down to Hagrid's. They knocked furiously on the door before Hagrid opened it with furious shushing noises. He let them silently in with his finger to his lips, trying to make them be silent.
Stretched out in front of the fire was the rith. Hagrid had obviously spent a lot of time grooming it and had got rid of all traces of the mud that had so thoroughly caked its body. They could see that the marbled pattern of blue and black that had marked its face continued all the way along its body, as did the vertical stripe that bisected its head. Its four feet were completely black and the tip of its tail was snowy white. Tufts of long, white hair stood up from the points of its pricked ears, which were black, but edged in white. All in all it was a very attractive creature.
'I'd like you three to meet Storm.'
The riths head raised from its front paws and turned to look at them, from where it had previously been staring into the flames. Its eyes were as blue as its coat, perhaps a shade darker, and full of fear. They saw its body tense up, its meagre muscles bunching as if to flee. Hagrid went over immediately to sooth her.
'Shush now, my good girl, they won't hurt you. They're friends, friends, you understand me? There's a good girl, you relax.'
They saw the rith's taught muscles ease as Hagrid stroked her head. He motioned them to come over, which they did, although cautiously. The rith didn't seem to know what to do, whether to run from them or stay with Hagrid. She chose to just get closer to the one friend she appeared to have.
'Put out your hands, let her get your scent so she knows you're friends.'
Unwilling to put out any fleshy portion of their bodies towards a creature friendly with Hagrid, they still did so, noting the still resident in the creature's eyes.
It apprehensively extended its muzzle and sniffed gently. Its tail wagged slightly and they put their hands on her to stroke her. They could feel every bone, every joint and painfully little muscle. This was a creature who had obviously not eaten in a good while. Hagrid laid her head down on the fur rug as her eyes hooded and she fell into an exhausted sleep. They moved away to let the poor animal rest and went outside.
No one seemed to know what to say, so Hagrid spoke first, 'I've gotta find out who her owner is, I'm sure they'll be looking for her. She's a valuable animal.'
'But there's something wrong, isn't there?' Hermione had picked up on the trace of doubt in Hagrid's voice.
'Riths don't usually run away, they're very loyal creatures.'
'So, you think she's been dumped?'
'No, I don't think so.'
'What then?'
'You saw how afraid she was of you. When she first woke up she went nuts, absolutely nuts, trying to bite everyone and everything just trying to escape, but she could hardly walk.'
'So, you think.'
'I think something so bad happened to her that's she's afraid that someone's going to do it again. And if I find out what it is.'
'Calm down, Hagrid. Like you said, we've got to find out who she belongs to first.'
'You'd better get going. I don't want to make you late for lessons twice in one day. You didn't get into trouble, did yeh?'
Knowing how upset it would make Hagrid if he knew the truth, they lied, 'No, no, it was fine, Hagrid.'
'See yeh later.'
'Probably tomorrow, we've got a lot of work to do tonight.' Detention more like, but never mind.
'Okay, see yeh tomorrer!'
Hagrid crept back into his hut so as not to wake its newest resident and Harr, Ron and Hermione walked back across the grounds. If anything, Harry and Ron would have rather stayed with Hagrid than go back to lessons. Divination was always such a bore. Harry wondered with exasperation what way Professor Trelawney was going to predict that he would die this year.