At five to three they left the castle on walks across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a wooden house on the outskirts of the forbidden Forest. Anna peered into the forest as Harry knots on Hagrid's door. "Watch out!" Hagrid yelled as the door opened and a moment later Anna was flat on her back, giggling madly as a ginormous boarhound licked her face.
"Get off her, Fang!" Hagrid laughed as he grabbed Fang's collar, pulling him off of the girl. "Sorry about that."
"It's fine." Anna chuckled as she used the sleeve of her robes to wipe the drool off her face.
"Make yerselves at home," Hagrid said as they walked inside. Hams and pheasants hung from the ceiling, and a copper kettle was over a roaring fire. A large mattress with a patchwork quilt was in the corner of the room. "This is Ron." Harry said to Hagrid, and the giant looked down at the ginger. "Another Weasley, eh? I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."
Somehow that didn't surprise Anna. Fred and George seemed like the type of people that would do that sort of thing. The trio told Hagrid all about their lessons. When they told him what had happened with Snape, he assured them that they shouldn't worry, that Snape rarely liked any of the students. He abruptly changed the subject by asking Ron about his brother Charlie, who worked with dragons in Romania.
"Anna." Harry whispered, and he showed her a newspaper clipping he had picked up off of the table. Anna's eyes widened as she read the headline: 'Gringotts break-in latest.'
July 31st...that was the day they had gone to Gringotts with Hagrid...
"Hagrid!" Harry exclaimed. "That Gringotts break-in happened on our birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"
Anna frowned as Hagrid avoided their gazes. She read the story again. 'The vault had in fact been emptied earlier that day.'
What vault was it? Hagrid had emptied a vault that day. Had that been the vault that the thief had broken into? It would make sense as to why Hagrid was so nervous. On their way back to the castle, they discussed it with Ron. "You think it was that vault?" He asked, and Harry nodded. "Why else would he be so nervous and refuse to talk to us about it unless it had been that vault?"
Anna bit her lip as she thought. What inside that vault had been valuable enough that someone would risk life and limb to get it? Anna continued to ponder this as they walked into the Great Hall for dinner. "What's on your mind?" Hermione asked as Anna sat down next to her. "Nothing." Anna shook her head. "Just an article in The Daily Prophet about that break-in at Gringotts."
"I read about that. A good thing that vault was empty. You know, they would have to be a powerful witch or wizard to be able to bypass all of those security measures."
"I can't imagine that there are many wizards that are powerful enough."
"There's a few, but it isn't like any wizard would have the ability or knowledge." Anna nodded. Hermione had a point about that. Anna chewed a piece of ham thoughtfully, looking up as Parvati plopped down next to her, looking absolutely frazzled. "What's wrong?"
"My sister." Parvati answered with a long, drawn out sigh. "She keeps nagging at me about how I need to study more."
"We could all study more," Hermione said and Parvati stared at her. "It's a wonder that you weren't sorted into Ravenclaw."
Hermione rolled her eyes as Anna giggled. Anna loved her friends and didn't know what she would do without them.