Chapter Six

Hagrid's Assistant

When they arrived at Hogwarts, a familiar voice was telling first years where to go. Hagrid, Hogwarts' gamekeeper and Care of Magical Creatures teacher, had been the one to tell Harry that he was a wizard. Harry always looked forward to spending time with Hagrid—though he had a rather unfortunate liking for dangerous and illegal creatures. In Harry's first year, Hagrid had taken care of a massive three-headed dog and illegally hatched a dragon, a Norwegian Ridgeback that he called Norbert. Nonetheless, Harry loved passing his free time in Hagrid's hut.

"Harry!" Hagrid boomed. Being a half-giant, Hagrid was very hard to miss. The first years were cowering below him. "See you up at the castle!"

Harry waved back. When he turned around, over one hundred carriages, all drawn by black, winged, horse-like creatures called thestrals, were waiting to take the rest of the students up to the castle. Being able to see the thestrals was a relatively new thing for Harry. One could only see them if they had seen death, as Harry had at the end of his fourth year, when Voldemort murdered his schoolmate, Cedric Diggory .

Except for Neville (who'd been present when his grandfather died), Harry's friends could not see the thestrals. He, Hermione, Ron, and Neville climbed into a carriage together while Ginny ran off with some of her friends.

At the castle, the students were ushered into the Great Hall. Four long tables sat in the middle of the room, and at the far end was a long table for the teachers. The Great Hall had been festively decorated with the Hogwarts' Coat of Arms—a badger and a great yellow-and-black H (for Hufflepuff), a snake and a green-and-silver S (for Slytherin), an eagle and a blue-and-bronze R (for Ravenclaw), and a lion and a red-and-gold G (for Gryffindor) were intertwined on the magnificent shields hanging above each table. Just in front of the teacher's table were a small stool and a ratty old hat. The older students sat down, chatting furiously, but became quiet when Professor McGonagall brought in the new first years. There seemed to be many more of them than Harry remembered seeing in other years.

The first years looked around nervously. Several of them jumped when the old hat's brim opened up and it began to sing:

"Your Good Old Sorting Hat

Will this year make its song a short one

As there are many new students here

And I need time to Sort them.

It matters not if this old hat

Says that you are a cunning Slytherin,

Or that Hufflepuff is where you will find

Your hard-working brethren.

And though all Ravenclaws

May have a sharp-honed mind,

And daring Gryffindors

Share their bravery in kind,

This old hat is pleased to say that

Hogwarts' students are of the rarest breed—

Students and houses can unite

Amid great hostility.

I am used for one thing only

And that duty is to separate

Young witches and wizards who

I now command to overcome their fates.

I will place you in one of these four houses

But you must not let my decision

Cloud you from potential friends:

Unite, good Hogwarts, and always fight division!"

There was only a smattering of applause as the students took in the Sorting Hat's new song—the second one to warn them to stand united against hostile forces. Harry looked at Hermione and Ron, who were both looking at the Slytherin table. No Slytherin would ever stoop so low as to unite with the other three houses at Hogwarts. It would disgrace their stance against Muggles and Muggle-borns.

Professor McGonagall called the first-years up alphabetically. By the time all had been Sorted, Harry was starving. He could see Ron clutching his stomach, waiting for the food to magically appear on their plates. But Professor Dumbledore had some announcements to make. Harry noticed, for the first time, that Tabitha was missing from the teacher's table. In fact, there were two empty seats beside Hagrid. Harry wondered (thought not for very long) to whom the second seat belonged.

"Good evening, everyone. I have the usual start-of-term notices to deliver. Mr. Filch, our caretaker, would like me to remind everyone that any sort of magic, fooling around, talking, or any other kind of childhood merriment is strictly forbidden in the corridors." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "I would also like to point out that any standing rules and regulations set forth by our former High Inquisitor"—Umbridge, taking a Ministry-appointed position much too far—"are hereby null and void. All club and activity bans are lifted. The Forbidden Forest is strictly forbidden to student entry, as it is every year. Any student caught in the forest will be punished." Harry, Ron, and Hermione shared smiles. Dumbledore knew quite well that every year, they'd ended up in the forest for some reason. "I would also like to take this time to welcome back Sybil Trelawney as our Divination teacher." Trelawney had been sacked by Umbridge the previous year. "And to tell students that a new club has been created. Any student interested in extracurricular Divination with Firenze should report to classroom eleven on the main floor on Monday and Friday nights." Firenze was the centaur who'd been kicked out of his herd when he agreed to take over Professor Trelawney's job. Though the stars and planets sometimes distracted him, he had been a much better teacher than Trelawney—though not good enough for Harry to want to take extra lessons with him.

Dumbledore continued, "And finally, we have two new members of our staff. Unfortunately, neither was able to make it to the feast tonight, but starting tomorrow, you will meet them in your lessons. Professor Tabitha McNoira, a celebrated hunter of Dark creatures, will be taking the post of Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. And Professor Hagrid is happy to announce that he will now have an Assistant Care of Magical Creatures teacher, as the creatures slated for this term are especially dangerous. Now, time to eat!"

Mountains of food appeared on each table. As Ron shoveled a little bit of everything into his mouth, he said, "I wonder what kind of creatures Hagrid's got, if he's taken on an assistant? Must be pretty bad if he consented to having someone help him." Harry nodded. Hagrid must have agreed to it—when Dumbledore made the announcement, Hagrid was positively beaming. Harry wondered who it could be.

Harry fell asleep rather quickly that night. He slept solidly and awoke to a bright, calm morning. Ron was still sleeping, but Neville and their other roommates, Seamus Finnegan and Dean Thomas, were already dressing for breakfast. "Ready, Harry?" Seamus asked.

"I'll wait for Ron," Harry replied. He practically dragged Ron out of bed. He wanted to see his schedule for the week.

They went down to the Great Hall less than ten minutes later. Ron's hair was still messed up from his pillow. He tried to flatten it down as they approached Hermione, who was already half done with her breakfast. "Honest, mate, how do you deal with this hair?" Ron said grumpily.

Harry ran a hand through his perpetually messy, black hair. "I don't," he said simply.

"I've got your schedules for you," Hermione said curtly when they sat down. "Harry, you and I have N.E.W.T. Potions with the rest of the Os from the other houses tomorrow afternoon."

"When do I have Potions?" Ron asked, scanning his schedule. "Ugh. This afternoon. It'll be me, Neville, Crabbe and Goyle, you'll see." Crabbe and Goyle were Malfoy's two thick-witted friends.

"What have I got when you have Potions?" Harry asked. "Divination!" he yelled in disgust. "And it's with the Slytherins!"

"Well, we're all in McGonagall's N.E.W.T. class tomorrow morning with Hufflepuff," Hermione said brightly. "And look! N.E.W.T. Care of Magical Creatures first thing today, and N.E.W.T. Defense Against the Dark Arts just after that ..."

"She just loves saying that we're in N.E.W.T. classes, doesn't she?" Ron muttered. "Highlight of her life, I'll bet."

After breakfast, they walked out towards Hagrid's hut with the rest of the sixth-year Gryffindors. Harry was anxious to see Hagrid's new assistant.

But only Hagrid was waiting for them outside his house. He hugged Harry tightly. "Ye all right? Abou' Sirius?" he said quietly.

"I'm all right," Harry replied, trying not to think of Sirius. "How's Grawp?" Grawp was Hagrid's half-brother, a full-blooded giant. Hagrid had hid him in the Forbidden Forest last year, trying to teach him English.

"He's good. Knows a lot more English now. Bin askin' fer 'Hermy' all summer!" Hagrid said brightly.

Hermione blushed and said, "So he's still in the Forest?"

"Yep, doin' well as ever. Still got a ways to go, though."

"Hagrid, what was Dumbledore saying last night, about you having an assistant?" Ron asked hesitantly. "I mean, what kind of creatures ..."

"Can't say," Hagrid said. He grinned. "But my assistant's here already, jus' inside feedin' Fang. Yer welcome to go on in an' meet 'im."

Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked towards the door of Hagrid's hut. They didn't want to just walk in on this new teacher, not when they hadn't been properly introduced.

Then the door opened. A short, stocky, handsome wizard, with skin scarred from dragon burns, so freckled it looked tan, and a shock of hair as red as Ron's, was standing in front of them.

Their mouths dropped open. "Charlie?" Ron squeaked.

Charlie grinned. "I think that would be 'Professor Weasley.'"

"But ... I mean, the dragons ... "

"The dragons? I've been you-know-where all summer, and you didn't once say anything about my not being in Romania with the bloody dragons." Charlie looked around lovingly. "Anyway, I always loved being here, helping Hagrid with the animals. When Dumbledore asked if I'd like to be an assistant just for the year, I jumped on it. Plus," he lowered his voice. "There's work to be done around here, you understand?"

Hermione nodded, but Harry and Ron still looked confused. "For the Order!" she hissed at them. "Oh!" they both said knowingly.

"None of that will start until later, though," Charlie said brightly. "Today's lesson will be right out of the book." He tapped Ron's thin book. "Just identifying different parts of a dragon's anatomy and such. A lot of our early stuff will be right out of the book."

"Are we working with dragons this year?" Hermione said nervously.

"Can't say!" Charlie said. "But we will be studying them extensively."

As he walked away to talk to Hagrid, Ron said, "Let's hope the two of them haven't bred some mad dragon and plan to let it loose during class."

"Or if they do," Harry replied. "Let it be during a double class with the Slytherins so Malfoy and his friends can be its breakfast."