Eric carted his few belongings towards the train. More than anything, he wanted to go back to Diagon Alley. Looking back at Hogwarts, he suddenly felt a pang in his chest. For a long time, Hogwarts was home. Lately though, things had been changing as events continued to expose greater and greater dangers. Yet in the middle of all this was a gap; something was wrong, and he had to find out what.
As he loaded up his belongings, a friendly voice came out from behind him. "About set, are ye? Yeh're a bit early for leavin' this year."
Eric turned around to face Hagrid. "Have you got a minute?"
"Fer you, boy? Always!" He set a friendly hand on Eric's shoulder and lead him to a bench. "I could tell there were sumthin' on yer mind – yeh seem real bothered. Wha's tha' matter?"
Eric looked up to Hagrid. Whatever they had been through, he had always trusted his guardian without question. This was the first time his trust ever waivered. "Hagrid, you know last year when the basilisk was loose in the castle, and I was paralyzed? Well, on the trip down from the castle, I saw the thestrals pulling the carriages. That was the first time I ever saw them."
Hagrid began shifting uneasily. "Yeah, well, yeh were through a lot that year..."
"Hagrid, that's what I thought at first, but it doesn't work that way, does it? The night that Buckbeak got away, I ran into Neville Longbottom. He asked me who I saw die. It confused me at first, but then I looked it up. The Monstrous Book is really a good text – you did well by choosing it. It said that a person who can see a thestral has seen death. Not has been near it, not has almost died, but has seen death. Hagrid, when did I ever see death?"
Letting out a great sigh, Hagrid looked squarely at Eric. "Yeh have teh understand; yeh weren't supposed to remember. Tha' was part of the deal. Yeh see, durin' the Christmas break, yeh went wanderin' through the edge of the forest. Yeh weren't too deep, but jus' on the edge, mindin' yer place. Besides, it twere daylight, an' everythin' was all snowy. Anyhow, I wen' lookin' fer yeh, but yeh were gone. When I brought Fang out to track yeh, I saw that someone had come up and grabbed yeh.
"I was besides meself. I called out Fluffy, I let loose the thestrals, I cut loose everythin' I could to send to help yeh. My boy was in trouble, an' I had teh save yeh. I went after them straight away, an' they went boundin' high an' low, but stopped short all of a suddin'. Yeh see, you were dragged into the werewolves' territory, an' none of them beasts wanted teh go further."
Hagrid shuddered for a moment before continuing. "Well, Fang may be a bloody coward, but he is loyal, so he came with me goin' in that dark place, and there I found yeh, huddled an' shiverin', sittin' all alone in a small opening across from a werewolf pack. There were about a dozen or so beasts, all chewin' on one kind of bone or another.
"Didn' take much to figger wha' had happened. Whatever feller dragged you off fell in front of the pack, who were a bit too hungry just to maim 'im. By the looks of things, they tore him apart, but slow-like, as if they were lookin' teh punish 'im. Musta' been horrible. Thing is, they left you alone, didn' scratch yeh or nuthin'. Jes' sat there finishin' up wha' was left of yer attacker while I took yeh outta there.
"Well, yeh were fine an' all, but yeh were in shock. Yeh didn' eat nuthin', yeh didn' talk, yeh barely blinked. Dumbledore insisted that it be kept quiet, what with all the trouble we were already havin', this wouldn'eve helped. We let yer friends all come by, but nuthin' helped. Finally, we called a guy from Saint Mungo's, who said that yeh saw sumthin' so terrible, yeh just locked up.
"The best way to bring yeh out of it was teh make yeh fergit, an' that's what he did – cleared the whole thing from yer mind. We made yer friends promise not teh say anythin' either. 'twernt no point in it, anyway, since yeh couldn' tell anyone anything about that day. As far as yeh remembered, yeh had a normal holiday."
After finishing his story, Hagrid looked at his shoes. "I'm sorry, boy. We shouldn' ha' done that teh yeh, or I shoulda told yeh before now. Wouldn' do no harm, 'cept that I suppose yeh can't trust me now."
Eric leaned up against Hagrid, grabbing his arm. "I still trust you, Hagrid. You're my uncle, after all. At least now I know what really happened." Suddenly, he found himself buried in one of Hagrid's massive hugs. It was comforting to know that despite the fact that school and life were pulling them apart, Hagrid still wanted to be with him all the same; and he held on for as long as he could before waving that he had to come out for air.
"Well, yeh behave yerself, an' don' work too hard this year; try to enjoy things a little more. Maybe we can all git tegether for the Quidditch World Cup!"
"I'll speak to my father about it." The whisping monotones coming from Naomi's hood startled Hagrid as she came out from behind him. Eric took it much more in stride, having gotten used to her friend's eccentricities.
"You realize these games are simply the Ministry's method to control the minds of the world's wizards?" Luna Lovegood had joined the circle, bringing her own unique insight to the group.
Eric turned to her. "Of course, breaking the story for your father would be the scoop of the century, wouldn't it?"
She stared at him blankly for a minute before realizing what he was suggesting. "Very well, I'll be there."
"I'm in!" Dorian bounded up, dragging Tylena up to the rest of them. He quickly turned to her. "You'll join us, right? I mean, she can join us, can't she?"
The group looked at each other, frowning for an agonizing five seconds before answering. "We're just teasing, Dorian. Of course she's welcome."
Relief broke out on her face. "Thank you, all of you. There's no one I'd rather be with."
Getting on the train, the group of them took to their usual compartment. Having a fifth person was beginning to get cramped, but at least his circle of friends was growing. Settling into his seat, Eric pulled out his crystal ball, staring into it intently. At first there was nothing, but as time passed, the shadows seemed to pulse and move, until a watery image came into view. It was a graveyard, he didn't know where. In the middle of his sight, a large black dog rested on a patch of green, facing a simple slab: "Evelyn Sable – Unknown".
Dorian looked over to Eric. "Found some nice lotto numbers, then?"
Eric smiled as he pouched the crystal. "I was looking for my father. I found my mother instead." Drawing out a small chandelier piece, he settled back into the couch as Evelyn cheerfully joined the quiet group for the long trip home. As if offering a welcome relief, the hours passed in blessed quiet.
As the train hissed in the station, the students began to pour out of the cars. As his friends began to head out from the compartment, he set a hand on Naomi's shoulder. "Um, look – I, ..." It took Eric several seconds to realize that he wanted to say something, but couldn't give it words. Instead, he took out a piece of paper. "Here. It's instructions on how to create a crystal memory. If you do it right, you should be able to cast it in your room without wrecking anything. It'll record your music so that you can have it back at Hogwarts."
She looked at the paper in her hand for several seconds, apparently stunned at it. Finally she stuffed it in her pocket and pulled her hood over her head. "Thanks."
Eric gathered his belongings and started to head over to where Lymeon and Clareone Peal were waiting for him. They were very glad to see him, for Willy had already made his way to the shop and was beginning to make a nuisance of himself, given that everything that could be prepared for his homecoming had been done.
They made their way towards the walls from which they would emerge into London proper, then off to the Leaky Cauldron and Diagon Alley. However, before they could pass through, Fred and George Weasley ran up to stop Eric.
"Can we talk with you for a second? You've been running your own business for a bit, and we've come up with this great idea!"