After swimming around for a while longer, just enjoying the pool they both hoped they'd be able to use whenever they pleased starting the following year, Harry and Hermione finally left the Prefects Bathroom and headed back towards Gryffindor Tower and their awaiting beds.
With the invisibility cloak covering them both, and Hermione watching the Marauders' Map as Harry carried the egg, they quickly made it back to the Gryffindor common room without incident. Filch and Mrs Norris were safely in their office, Peeves was on the other side of the castle, and none of the teachers' dots were prowling the hallways that night in search of out of bounds students. It was a calm, quiet, normal one o'clock in the morning in the castle.
Once safely through the portrait hole, Harry and Hermione took off the invisibility cloak and wiped the Marauders' map clear, not needing either any more. Then they shared a quick kiss where the stairs split to the boys and girls dorms, pleased with the success of their evening, and bid each other goodnight and headed off to their respective beds.
The good feelings from their successful mission were only destined to last for so long, however, as the first day of classes brought with it several unpleasant surprises — the first of which occurred at breakfast that morning as soon as the owls swooped in delivering the mail.
The entire front page of Hermione's Daily Prophet was covered in an article about Hagrid, complete with the shiftiest photo of the gamekeeper the photographer could have possibly taken.
"Rita's claimed her next victim," Hermione said quietly to Harry after she'd read the title, laying the article out between them on the table so Harry could read the lies and misinformation along with her.
As she read the line about Mad-Eye's hiring being 'a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic', Hermione grumbled to herself, "Well then, looks like it's a good thing the Ministry doesn't have any authority at Hogwarts, doesn't it?", but the first section she directly pointed out to Harry was the sentence, 'Rubeus Hagrid, who admits to being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, has enjoyed the position of gamekeeper at the school ever since, a job secured for him by Dumbledore'.
"You know, it is really odd when you think about it that he got the gamekeeper position when he was only thirteen or fourteen years old," she said as she pointed to the line. "He would have been younger than us, and already in charge of the extensive and dangerous grounds here at Hogwarts? I mean, I know you said he was physically big and already raising acromantula in a cupboard by the time Tom Riddle got him expelled to save his own sorry arse, but that still seems far too young to hold any position at a school. Also, I'm not really sure it can be called 'admitted' when everyone knows he was expelled. Or if it was supposed to be some kind of secret, it's the worst kept secret in the world."
"I don't know," replied Harry. "Now that you mention it, I certainly wouldn't have been ready to hold a position like gamekeeper at the end of last year — hell, I don't think I could now. But he's never said anything about it to me."
In truth, Hagrid actually hadn't been the gamekeeper since he was expelled. Through at least the years the Weasley parents had attended Hogwarts, the gamekeeper had been one Apollyon 'Ogg' Pringle. Hagrid had only been the assistant from his time of expulsion until sometime after Mrs and Mr Weasley had graduated — but Hermione and Harry were unaware of this, and the article failed to mention it.
On the very next paragraph of the article, Hermione had to comment again, reading out the offending sentence.
" 'Last year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the headmaster to secure the additional post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better-qualified candidates.' That probably isn't wrong — Hagrid never graduated school, and he has zero teaching experience or post-Hogwarts learning other than what he's gotten himself into over the years as the Hogwarts groundkeeper, most of which have leant more towards a cell in Azkaban than a teaching position at the only school in the country," she said, before quickly continuing, "And don't be mad at me for saying that, I know you love him, in large part because he was the first respectable adult figure you ever had in your life, but you know I'm right about the teaching part. Just seriously think about our year and half of classes with him, and taking the fact he's your friend out of the equation, honestly tell me he doesn't leave a lot to be desired as a teacher."
Harry half-heartedly glared at his girlfriend for a few seconds, before finally sighing. "Okay, fine — so maybe he doesn't exactly match up to the level of some of the other professors here. But he's better than Snape!"
"Well that's hardly a challenge," retorted Hermione with a roll of her eyes. "The lacewings we stewed in class last week would be better teachers than Snape."
At this Harry couldn't help but chuckle, before they both continued reading on, to see what other propaganda Rita was spreading unchecked to her readers — which of course turned out to be in the very next sentence.
" 'Hagrid has been using his newfound authority to terrify the students in his care'?" scoffed Hermione. "I mean, sure, I agree that depending on your bigotry against Hagrid maybe he has brought 'a succession of horrific creatures' to the class, but while several people have been scared at first sight, this is magical creatures class, and most magical creatures definitely do deserve your respect or they might kill you. Everyone with half an open mind at least does respect the creatures Hagrid has brought in by the end even if they still don't like said creatures, so 'terrify' is a rather presumptuous claim — and it also assigns intent, which is always very hard to prove."
"And 'Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons that many admit to being "very frightening" ' is just a bold-faced lie," added Harry, reading the next sentence. "Hagrid hasn't harmed a single hair on a single student's head, as long as he's been alive as far as I'm aware, and certainly not in any of our classes. Yes, there was Buckbeak who scratched Malfoy because the snake insulted the hippogriff, blatantly ignoring what Hagrid told us, but that's not Hagrid maiming a student. The very least she could have done was say that one of the creatures Hagrid brought to class maimed one student, which would at least be half a truth. And sure, I suppose 'very frightening' would be a suitable description for cowards and muggles who'd never met a magical creature before, but like you said, what would there be to study if you didn't study animals that could maim or kill you? There's just not much in the magical world that doesn't threaten your life or safety if you don't treat it with respect and obey the teacher's warnings."
" 'Don't ever insult one, because it might be the last thing you do' were Hagrid's exact words when he was telling us about hippogriffs," added Hermione. "No teacher can be held responsible for a student flagrantly disregarding their instructions. If you use the transfiguration spell to turn a beetle into a button on your head, at the very least bad things are going to happen and depending on how successful you are, you could very well kill yourself — it's not Professor McGonagall's fault if you do that, nor would she be considered responsible. It's the exact same thing with Hagrid, Draco, and Buckbeak. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
"And what is this nonsense about Crabbe getting 'a bad bite off a flobberworm'?" she continued, reading the next line of the article. "Flobberworms have no teeth, and anyone who ever took Care of Magical Creatures or honestly knows anything about magical creatures at all will know that, if they just use their brains for two seconds — which admittedly does seem to be asking a lot of witches and wizards most of the time.
"And I suppose 'We all hate Hagrid' is true if Draco was talking about the Slytherins, as I'm sure they do all hate Hagrid since that's what their lord and savior Snape has told them to do — but 'we're just too scared to say anything'? Seems to me like telling the most prolific reporter in the most widely read newspaper in all of wizarding Britain, using your real name and not the cover of anonymity, is literally the exact opposite of 'too scared to say anything'. And seriously Draco, do you expect anyone who knows you to believe you haven't bitched to Snape about Hagrid every chance you've had, especially when you semi had a case after being scratched by a creature he brought in to class? But I guess he only needs to convince an ignorant public that won't spend any amount of time verifying what their holy and can do no wrong Daily Prophet tells them to believe, and isn't concerned with convincing any of his fellow students who actually know his lying, manipulative arse."
"The next bit about breeding those screwt things is interesting, though," said Harry. "If breeding really is controlled, and they really were bred by him from manti-cores and fire-crabs, he really could be violating wizarding law. I mean, no more than raising a dragon in his hut, but definitely still illegal."
"And if he really did tell her 'I was just having some fun', it sounds like he did breed them himself," continued Hermione. "But at that point, doesn't some of this have to fall back on Dumbledore as well? I mean, you can't seriously expect me to believe that Dumbledore doesn't know what Hagrid is teaching in his lessons, and know that he has what seems to us to be an illegal creature not only in his possession, but in his classes as well. Which means that Dumbledore either approves or at the very least doesn't disapprove, which makes him complicit. And also of course means he'll protect Hagrid from the Ministry if it ever comes down to it, just as he's been doing since Hagrid was illegitimately expelled all those years ago."
They continued reading on, until Harry said, "So he's half giant — who cares? And maybe most giants were bad and supported Voldemort — so did most Slytherins. Yet no one is 'warning about the dangers of associating' with them. Or, I guess they kind of are, Slytherin does have the worst reputation, but it's not how Rita makes it sound with giants in this article."
"This one I actually can answer," replied Hermione sadly. "The wizarding world is as bigoted against giants and anything possibly giant-related as they are against werewolves like Lupin. If you don't believe me, go tell Ron 'So what?' when he finds out Hagrid is half giant. Now, I can't know for sure, and maybe I'm being overly pessimistic here and he and his family doesn't deserve my doubts, but I would be willing to bet it's more likely that he was taught by his family to hate giants, than it is that he was taught to judge them and their descendants individually based on their actions. But even if the Weasleys really are as free from prejudice as they like to pretend they are — blood status issues not included, which they are actually above average on — you can go say 'So what? Who cares?' to most wizards who grew up in the wizarding world, and they'll stare at you like you're out of your magical mind.
"But point being, it's no surprise Hagrid as hidden that all his life. I obviously knew soon after I saw him for the first time — it's obvious if you open your eyes and actually know anything about giants and charms and potions and anything else that could potentially make someone that big — but I had honestly thought that most students and adults who were raised in the wizarding world were smart enough to figure that out on their own. But from the sounds of this article and how much of an impact Rita thinks it's going to make, I clearly yet again overestimated my fellow witches and wizards' intelligence and common sense."
"You have the most subtle, nice sounding, inoffensive insults I think I've ever heard," chuckled Harry wryly. "I'm not sure whether to be proud or concerned."
"It's not my fault none of them engage their brains or have any common sense," grumbled Hermione. "It's not that I don't think many of them are highly intelligent, it's just that they don't know how to apply it. The trouble with our wizarding friends is not that they're ignorant; it's just that they know so much that isn't so."
Returning to the article at hand, she said, "Hagrid 'appears to have inherited her brutal nature' is definitely skirting the line between personal opinion and libel. I'm pretty sure the only people who claim that Hagrid has a giant's brutal nature are people like the Slytherins, who are lying their arses off."
"She did get it right that 'Harry Potter is unaware of the truth about his large friend', though," said Harry. "I wouldn't consider it an unpleasant truth like she said, more a completely indifferent one like the fact the twins are purebloods, you're a muggleborn, and I'm a halfblood, but I definitely didn't know that he was a half-giant before this."
"Yeah, well, even a broken clock is right once or twice a day depending on if it's a twelve or twenty-four hour clock," replied Hermione with a roll of her eyes. "Don't give her more credit than she deserves for happening to get one thing right. It could have been completely possible that you knew all along, and that would have been just as much a completely made up lie as the rest of this garbage. Would have been if I'd ever mentioned it to you, I just knew Ron's head would probably literally explode if I told you when we first became friends, and then it's just been so long since then that I never thought to tell you after we departed ways with the redhead."
"Good point, good point," said Harry. "And I wasn't giving her credit as a 'journalist', I was just pointing out one thing she said did happen to line up with reality."
Looking back down at the article, Hermione reread the last few paragraphs to see if there was anything important she missed, after a few seconds pointing at the final line.
"Speaking of journalist — 'But Albus Dumbledore surely has a duty to ensure that Harry Potter, along with his fellow students, is warned about the dangers of associating with part-giants' — Don't you have a duty to tell the truth, and not make up bold-faced lies with just enough semblance of truth in them to make your lie stronger?" she sneered rhetorically. "It's like the hypocrisy's just wizzed right over her head."
"My question is," said Harry as Hermione pulled the paper back in front of her to quickly read through the rest of it to see if there was anything else important, "did Hagrid just tell her he was a half-giant during their interview? Because he's hidden it from everyone for however long he's been alive, so it seems odd that he would have told her. I mean, I know he can be extremely loose-lipped and has let way more slip to us than he ever should have, but that's one thing he never has in all the years we've known and talked to him."
"And she said 'the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence' that he's half-giant," replied Hermione thoughtfully as she set the paper down for a second to look at Harry. "That doesn't sound like Hagrid told her himself, though she does have a way with mincing words, so you can never be sure. But if he didn't, how did she find out? And when? And why was it never unearthed in all the years Hagrid has been gamekeeper? Especially last year with Buckbeak, as that would have made the Malfoys' case even stronger against him. You're right — none of that makes sense. It's like something new happened recently to bring this to light, but this time, I have no clue what it could be."
But as neither of them had any ideas when or where or how she could have found out this information about Hagrid, Hermione went back to reading the rest of the paper and Harry back to eating, ready to get started on their first day back at school.