Hagrid's Return
0o0o0o
Neasa had long forgotten the excitement and anticipation that shrouded the build-up to a school Quidditch game. In the corridors the only talk was of the upcoming Gryffindor-Slytherin match, and similarly in the staffroom: both Severus and Professor McGonagall faced constant questioning about how their teams were performing.
It gave Neasa a dilemma: who should she support? The natural choice was Gryffindor: most of the rest of the school would be supporting them, and with a Firebolt on their team they were more likely to win – not to mention the expectant looks Professor McGonagall kept shooting Neasa every time the subject was raised, as if expecting her to support her House.
But her lover was Head of Slytherin, so that settled it: when Severus had offered her a green and silver scarf on the morning of the match she'd accepted it with a smile.
However, as she now sat in the staff room, listening to the argument that had broken out between Severus and Professor McGonagall after the game, she slowly took off the scarf and left it on the back of her chair.
"Draco is in the hospital wing!" Severus was saying, "It was your players who attacked him–"
"They were provoked by that stupid chant and I've lost a Seeker and two Beaters!" Professor McGonagall shouted. "If you had exercised a scrap of authority over your House this would never have happened."
"And what is that supposed to mean?"
"I can't remember the last time you gave a Slytherin detention – and whoever invented that chant certainly deserves a lot more than that! Your entire House were making a mockery of one pupil–"
"Stop it, both of you!" Neasa exclaimed.
Severus and Professor McGonagall turned their heads in surprise, because up until now Neasa hadn't uttered a word.
She stood up and faced the Professors.
"Can't you see this is what that woman wants?" she asked. Umbridge didn't even need to be mentioned by name anymore. "She wants us to be disunited – she banned Harry and the Weasley twins to get at you, Professor, and you're letting her."
"Yes, but–"
"I'm not defending the Slytherins who sang Weasley is Our King, but there isn't anything that Severus could have done about them anyway – not with the new Decree putting Dolores in charge of sanctions and punishments," Neasa said quickly.
This seemed to calm the Professor down slightly as she processed what Neasa was saying. She took the folded Decree out of her pocket and glared at it in loathing, then ripped it in half, then quarters, then eighths, and threw it on the floor.
Neasa guided her into an armchair by the fire and conjured up a glass of water. Over her shoulder she noticed Severus gathering up the ripped pieces of legislation and putting them in a wastepaper basket. Perhaps he did this on purpose so Umbridge might come across them.
Neasa caught his eye, and smiled at him.
0o0o0o
"'Scuse me, yeh wouldn' 'appen ter know where the nurse is, would yeh?"
Neasa had been in the staffroom with her morning paperwork when the tallest man she had ever seen had walked in with a dragon steak pressed to his blackened eye.
"Would yeh?" he asked again.
"Em – sorry – no – she's under the weather," Neasa stuttered.
Apparently registering her surprise, the man lowered the steak – revealing several bruises and deep cuts, which made Neasa wince – and said, "I'm Rubeus Hagrid – gamekeeper – sorry about all this," he motioned vaguely to his injuries.
"What – em – what happened?" asked Neasa.
"Er – I can't really – er – tell yeh that – I was doin' a job fer Dumbledore," said Hagrid. Then, changing the subject: "Are yeh a new Professor here?"
"No – no – I'm Dumbledore's new secretary."
After a moment Neasa added, "Do you want my help with… I know first aid, see."
"First what?"
"Healing injuries – I know the basics," she said.
So she led Hagrid to the hospital wing and he claimed a bed by the window; Neasa fetched some healing potions and creams from Madam Pomfrey's office and joined him.
She started by applying dittany to his cuts and then a simple balm to his bruises and his swollen eyes; as she worked she asked, "Have you been here long?"
"Been gamekeeper for a good few years now – been teaching for two. Care of Magical Creatures," Hagrid said.
"You should've been here on the first day of term – we had a dragon in the Potions classroom."
"No! Really? What was it like?" he asked eagerly.
Neasa described the dragon and how it ended up in Severus's classroom, and by the end Hagrid was in a fit of laughter.
"And how – Merlin – how did Snape react?" he asked, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.
"He was incandescent – but Dumbledore got him calmed down eventually," Neasa said, smiling from the memory.
"Dumbledore mentioned you and Snape are – er…"
Then she asked, "What are you thinking of teaching now that you're back?"
"I've always wanted ter show the class Thestrals – so I've decided ter take the fifth years ter see some," Hagrid replied.
"Thestrals?" Neasa asked. "I've never seen them up close – I know that I can see them – but I've only ever seen pictures of them."
"I can show them ter yeh, if yeh like – or yeh could come along with the class? We're goin' ter the Forest so a second adult would be a good idea." Then Hagrid frowned. "Also… I was visited last night by Professor Umbridge – she said she'd be doin' inspections o' the classes. She's a bit… I don't think she liked me much."
"Between you and me, none of the staff like Dolores. She even interrupted Albus's speech at the feast."
Hagrid raised both eyebrows, "She did? Tha's shockin'!"
Neasa just smiled. "You're right," she said, replacing the corks on the potion vials. "That's us done – but I think it would be wise if you took some potions to up your nutrition – just to err on the side of caution."
She gave Hagrid a slightly larger vial, and said, "The instructions say to take it every morning and evening for two weeks."
0o0o0o
Outside it was bitterly cold as Neasa trudged through the snow to Hagrid's cabin by the edge of the Forest, where he had asked her to go. She found most of the Gryffindor and Slytherin class there already, and a few more were on their way, holding their scarfs up to their noses to ward off the freezing air.
What was odd was that Umbridge was nowhere to be seen – but Neasa was distracted from this by the site of Hagrid arriving out from the Forest with half a dead cow over his shoulder. Unfortunately the potions had done little for his bruising, but the cuts were nearly gone.
The final few students gathered around, and Hagrid said, "We're workin' in here today! Bit more sheltered! Anyway, they prefer the dark."
"What prefers the dark?" a boy asked – Neasa looked over her shoulder and spotted Draco exchanging nervous looks with two others. "What did he say prefers the dark – did you hear?"
"Ready?" said Hagrid cheerfully, looking around at the class. "Right, well, I've bin savin' a trip inter the Forest fer yer fifth year. Thought we'd go an' see these creatures in their natural habitat. Now, what we're studyin' today is pretty rare, I reckon I'm probably the on'y person in Britain who's managed ter train 'em."
"And you're sure they're trained, are you?" Draco asked again; Neasa felt the urge to roll her eyes, and it must have been obvious for she spotted Harry smirking at her. "Only it wouldn't be the first time you'd brought wild stuff to class, would it?"
"Course they're trained," scowled Hagrid, shifting the dead cow on his shoulder.
"So what happened to your face, then?" Draco rudely demanded.
"Malfoy!" Neasa said – he shot her a sharp look. "Don't use that tone of voice around a Professor."
Draco muttered something to his cronies and Neasa looked away. She spotted Harry exchanging a significant look with Hermione.
"Now because we're goin' into the Forest, I've asked Miss Casey here ter join us just ter have a second adult around," Hagrid said. "Now – follow me!"
He set off first, the dead cow making Neasa feel distinctly unsettled, but she guessed that it formed part of the Thestrals' diet.
The class went after him and Neasa went after the class, drawing her wand as she did. Past the edge of the Forest the snow was no longer there, making it a lot easier to walk, and a little warmer. In all honesty, however much Neasa wanted to see a Thestral, she was beginning to question its worth for this cold.
After about ten minutes, during which the light faded as the trees became more dense, Hagrid stopped walking and turned around to face the class.
"Gather roun', gather roun'," he encouraged. "Now, they'll be attracted by the smell o' the meat but I'm going ter give em a call anyway, 'cause they'll like ter know it's me."
He turned his back and shook the hair out of his face, then gave an odd sort of shriek into the trees – Neasa jumped in surprise. Nothing happened. The class were peering over each other's heads and into the darkness to try and spot any sign of life, and when Hagrid had given a third shriek Neasa felt something move past her.
She looked and nearly gasped: it had a face like a dragon and scales similar, but it was black and about the size of a large horse with wings. It swished a long, black tail and regarded Neasa with a glance over its shoulder, before walking over to the cow carcass.
Another Thestral was already there, beginning to rip off shreds of meat and eat them.
"Oh, an' here comes another one!" said Hagrid proudly, pointing to the Thestral that had passed Neasa. "Now… put yer hands up, who can see 'em? – apart from Miss Casey?"
Neville, Harry, and a Slytherin boy put their hands in the air. Hagrid glanced at Harry.
"Yeah… yeah, I knew you'd be able ter, Harry," he said. "An' you too, Neville, eh? An'–"
"Excuse me," said Draco with a sneer, "but what exactly are we supposed to be seeing?"
Hagrid just pointed at the dead cow, and Neasa shuddered in realisation: most of the class were just seeing bits of meat separating themselves from the body and disappearing.
'What's doing it?" a Gryffindor girl demanded, hiding terrified behind the nearest tree. "What's eating it?"
"Thestrals." Hagrid beamed proudly. "Hogwarts has got a whole herd of 'em in here. Now, who knows–?"
"But they're really, really unlucky!' the Gryffindor interrupted, with an alarmed voice. "They're supposed to bring all sorts of horrible misfortune on people who see them. Professor Trelawney told me once–"
"No, no, no," Hagrid chuckled, shaking his hand, "tha's jus' superstition, that is, they aren' unlucky, they're dead clever an' useful! Course, this lot don' get a lot o' work, it's mainly jus' pullin' the school carriages unless Dumbledore's takin' a long journey an' don' want ter Apparate – an' here's another couple, look–"
He pointed at another couple of Thestrals who stepped quietly towards the class, one of them right past the Gryffindor, who stepped back against a tree, protesting, "I think I felt something, I think it's near me!"
"Don' worry, it won' hurt yeh," Hagrid replied with patience. "Righ', now, who can tell me why some o' yeh can see 'em an' some can't?"
Hermione raised her hand, not to Neasa's surprise.
Hagrid beamed at her. "Go on then."
"The only people who can see Thestrals are people who have seen death," Hermione said.
"Tha's exactly right," said Hagrid solemnly, "ten points ter Gryffindor. Now, Thestrals–"
"Hem, hem."
Neasa felt her stomach drop: this was not the kind of lesson Umbridge would give a fair inspection to – if she ever did give a fair inspection. (Perhaps when hell froze over.)
But there she was in a pink hat and cloak, with a clipboard held in her stubby fingers and a sweet smile on her face, which Neasa found anything but sweet.
Hagrid was frowning in concern at one of the winged horses, and Umbridge coughed again.
"Hem, hem."
"Oh, hello!" Hagrid said, smiling pleasantly, having located the source of the noise.
"You received the note I sent to your cabin this morning? – telling you that I would be inspecting your lesson?" Umbridge asked in a slow, patronising voice she never used around anyone else, as though she was addressing someone she believed to be thick. She probably did believe that, and Neasa regrettably couldn't tell her off.
"Oh, yeah," said Hagrid, unfazed. "Glad yeh found the place all righ'! Well, as you can see – or, I dunno – can you? We're doin' Thestrals today–"
"I'm sorry?" Umbridge asked loudly, cupping her hand around her ear with a frown. "What did you say?"
Hagrid looked a little confused.
"Er – Thestrals!" he said loudly. "Big – er – winged horses, yeh know!"
He flapped his arms hopefully. Umbridge raised her eyebrows at him and muttered as she made a note on her clipboard: "Has… to… resort… to… crude… sign… language."
Neasa's heart was thumping fast; how dare this woman speak to Hagrid in that way? How dare she speak to anyone like that?
"Well… anyway…" Hagrid began, turning back to the class and looking slightly flustered, "erm… what was I sayin'?"
"Appears… to… have… poor… short… term… memory," muttered Umbridge, loudly enough for everyone to hear her. Neasa glared at her, suppressing a scoff – of course the Slytherins looked delighted, but Hermione was red in the face and Harry seemed to be biting his tongue.
Hagrid threw an uneasy glance at the clipboard but ploughed on; he began explaining how the herd started off and some students began taking notes. When he was finally getting back into the rhythm of the lesson, Umbridge interrupted loudly: "Are you aware that the Ministry of Magic has classified Thestrals as 'dangerous'?"
Neasa bit her lip; Hagrid just chuckled.
"Thestrals aren' dangerous! All righ', they might take a bite outta yeh if yeh really annoy them–"
Umbridge started scribbling: "Shows… signs… of… pleasure… at… idea… of… violence."
"No – come on!" said Hagrid, looking a little anxious now. "I mean, a dog'll bite if yeh bait it, won' it – but Thestrals have jus' got a bad reputation because o' the death thing – people used ter think they were bad omens, didn' they? Jus' didn' understand, did they?"
"I hardly believe that is a fair assessment of Professor Hagrid, Professor," Neasa blurted. Her voice was high pitched with anger.
Harry widened his eyes at her, and seemed to mouth "Finally!" at Hermione, but Neasa payed him no attention, instead focusing her steadiest look at Umbridge.
The other woman squared her shoulders and raised an eyebrow at Neasa.
"And why do you believe that is an unfair assessment, Miss Casey?" she asked.
"Professor Hagrid was making a reasonable point, that any animal – from a Scottish terrier to a Thestral – will attack on being provoked, which does not mean that the animal is always violent."
"Are you an expert in Thestrals?"
Neasa clenched her jaw. "No."
"Are you a Care of Magical Creatures Professor?"
"No, but Professor Hagrid is and he should know what he's talking about–"
"–I think that I have just established–"
Neasa raised her voice, "–having not only been the gamekeeper for many years–"
"–that Professor Hagrid is unfit to–"
"–but having trained these Thestrals himself!"
"Are you questioning my authority, Miss Casey?" Umbridge asked pointedly.
Neasa became aware that all eyes were on her and she felt the colour rising in her cheeks. She steadied her breathing and said, "I wouldn't dream of it, Professor."
"Will you now allow Professor Hagrid to continue teaching?"
"Of course," Neasa said, mustering the most polite tone she could.
Ironically Umbridge kept interrupting by asking the students questions and even motioning with her hands when speaking to Hagrid, herself resorting to 'crude sign language'. She left after that, and the lesson continued without much further incident.
When the lesson was over Hagrid led the class back out of the forest along the track, leaving the cow carcass behind for the Thestrals to eat. Again Neasa followed behind the class with her wand in hand, and when they were nearly out of the Forest, to her surprise, Hermione walked over to her and said, "It was very good of you to stand up for Hagrid. Professor Umbridge had no business speaking to him in that way."
Before Neasa could respond Hermione had left, clearly still fuming over Umbridge's behaviour.