Until the moment Minerva heard her knock, she had forgotten all about Olympe's promise to return on Wednesday. Desperately trying to shake one of the confetti ghosts off her sleeve, she hurried to the door to welcome her.

"Good to see you again, Minerva," Olympe said in her deep voice. "And I see zat 'Agrid is back!"

"Is he?" Minerva asked, surprised.

"Ah, well of course 'e is! 'E 'as been clearing away ze snow, don't you see?"

Minerva had to take a few steps to her right in order to see the cabin behind Olympe's giant form. "That's… strange…" she mumbled as she saw how the snow was completely gone around Hagrid's home. "I still haven't seen him..."

Olympe frowned. "Well… Shall we get to work on ze ghost mattair? I 'ave found some more information zat might be of interest to you."

But Minerva shook her head. "Let's go see Hagrid first. I'd like to know what he's so secretive about."

Looking mildly surprised, Olympe shrugged and turned around towards the cabin. "Per'aps 'e and 'is brother 'ad a… dispute…" she said. "Zey 'appen a lot around ze 'olidays, non? So 'e came 'ome early?"

"Could be," Minerva nodded. "Though he and Grawp usually get on rather well."

As they approached the cabin, it struck her that the snow didn't look like it had been shovelled away. The thick layer that muffled their footsteps gradually diminished as they got closer, until they were walking on fresh green grass. And she actually felt slightly warmer herself. When they reached the door, she took off her scarf and stuffed it into her pocket, while Olympe banged on the wooden door with her huge fist.

"'Agrid?"

There was no answer and the two women looked at each other, shrugging. Olympe knocked again. "'Agrid, are you zere?"

Again, no answer came, but then a high, plaintive squeak sounded.

"What in the name of Merlin was that?" Minerva asked.

"Zere must be some animal," Olympe said. "But 'e would never leave something be'ind zat needed 'is 'elp, would 'e?"

"I think we should have a look," Minerva said, taking out her wand. "Alohomora!"

The lock clicked and the door opened to a small crack. But immediately the opening was blocked and a blushing and huffing Hagrid squeezed out, slamming the door shut behind him, cutting off a myriad of tiny squeaks and thuds. "Headmistress…" he gasped. "O… Olympe… What're yeh doin' here?"

"I should ask you the same," Minerva said, frowning. "How long have you been here? And why didn't you open the door?"

"I… I haven' bin here long, Professor, Headmistress… Ma'am…" he muttered, glancing over his shoulder at the closed door. "I… I didn' hear yeh there. How can I help yeh?"

Minerva raised her eyebrows and looked him up and down. "Aren't you… cold, Hagrid?" she asked. Hogwarts' gamekeeper was wearing nothing but a white undershirt and a pair of maroon boxers with a print of small purple hippogriffs.

His blush deepened. "Oh no, Ma'am… Quite comfortable…" He wiped his forehead with the back of one large hand. "Actually… it's nice ter get a breath o' fresh air, ter be hones'."

"Right…" Minerva said slowly, thinking of the cold inside the castle. No smoke had been rising from the cabin's chimney when they walked here, and yet Hagrid did indeed seem to be sweating.

"Why didn't you write, 'Agrid?" Olympe asked. "It's like you've been acting all… mystérieux."

"Oh, right… I'm sorry, Olympe," Hagrid said sheepishly. "I've jus' bin really busy like… y'know…"

"With what?" Minerva asked curiously. "There weren't any lessons to prepare. And we've been hearing strange noises from your cabin…"

"Oh yeah… that… I've bin… workin' on some new things fer the… fer the lesson plan. Fer the NEWTs. It's… It's goin' great…"

"I see," Minerva said. "Looks like it's exhausting work."

"So you did not visit Grawp?" Olympe asked.

"No, I'm afraid I couldn' fin' the time… I will make it up ter him in the new year. I hope," Hagrid said, flinching as a small thud sounded behind him, as if something had struck the door lightly. "I… I better get back inside… I've got… supper on… Don' wan' it burnin', y'know…"

"Of course," Olympe said, sounding a little disappointed. "But we will see you latair, right? I can return when we are done wiz our work for ze day…"

"Oh… That'd be lovely, Olympe, bu'... I'm gonna be workin' into the night, I'm afraid. I'm really terribly busy." Hagrid cleared his throat as he reached behind him, grasping the doorknob.

"Ah. All right…" Olympe frowned and turned away without a goodbye.

Minerva stood for a moment longer, giving Hagrid a studying look. He avoided her gaze, but didn't open the door yet. In the end she shrugged and followed Olympe back to the castle.

But before they were halfway there, a loud curse sounded behind them, followed by a lot of short, loud squeaks. As Minerva turned around, she saw Hagrid waving his arms wildly, trying to shoo the escaped creatures, which looked like small sparks with dark wings, back into his cabin - but only more came out, in a long stream through the crack of the door he had tried to open.

"What…" Minerva managed, staring as the flying flames rushed off in the direction of the castle. She quickly crouched as they zoomed over her head, and looking up, saw that they were in fact tiny reptilian fire-breathers, not unlike dragons, except that each of them was only about the size of a Snitch.

Hagrid had given up on trying to shut the door and was now running through the snow on his bare feet, shouting: "Seamus… Hannah… Neville... Come back! No, Parvati… not inter the Forest. Stop..."

"Hagrid… What are they?" Minerva asked, still keeping her head down as she ran closer to him.

"They're babies…" he cried. "Jus' little scared babies… Oh, Professor... Yeh gotta help me. They're too small ter be out on their own…"

"They seem to be quite 'appy outside, though," Olympe said, calmly looking up at the swarm of lights that was circling a beech tree.

"They're playin'," he said, rushing towards the tree. "Bu' they'll get hungry. And cold… Oh Dean… Cho… come down here. Come…" He waved at them desperately. "Harry… Le' go o' Hermy's tail…"

"But… They breathe fire," Minerva said, gesturing at one of the branches that had been covered with snow but was now dripping. "They won't actually get cold, will they?"

Hagrid was practically sobbing at this point. "But they're so small…" he said. "They dunno how ter care for 'emselves. Oh please, Professor, you gotta help me save 'em. Oh Ernie… Katie… Please come back."

Minerva looked over at Olympe. "I suppose we can collect them. And then we'd better bring them into the castle," she added with a look at Hagrid's wooden cabin. "Everything's been fireproofed there, so…"

"'Agrid," Olympe said, "is zere something zese animals like? Some kind of food?"

Hagrid stared at her for a second, then hit a palm to his forehead. "'F course," he said. "I'll be righ' back." He turned and bolted back to his cabin. A moment later he came running back out, waving two large slabs of bacon in the air. "Look wha' Mummy's go' for you babies. Come to Mummy."

It took a moment, but then all the tiny dragons turned and attacked the bacon, squeaking happily.

"Lead them to the castle!" Minerva cried out, starting to run to the entrance while trying to keep her balance on the snow. Olympe followed her and when they were close enough, they opened the doors with a simultaneous wave of their wands, just in time for Hagrid to run in with the swarm of hyperactive creatures fluttering after him.

The women quickly followed and slammed the oaken doors shut behind them.

"So far so good," Minerva panted, before walking through to open the door to classroom eleven. "This way, Hagrid, please."

It took only a few minutes before the last of the creatures had followed the smell of the bacon and they could shut the classroom door, while enthusiastic gnawing noises and more squeaks were heard inside.

Minerva leaned back against the wall, trying to catch her breath. "Good grief, Hagrid… Where did you get those nightmares?"