The Potter Twins and the Goblet of Fire

Chapter 14: The Scoop

Everybody got up late on Boxing Day. The Gryffindor common room was much quieter than it had been lately, many yawns punctuating lazy conversations. Hermione's hair was bushy again; she confessed that she had used liberal amounts of Sleekeazy's Hair Potion on it for the ball, "but it's way too much bother to do every day", she had said, scratching a purring Crookshanks behind the ears.

Ron and Hermione seemed to have reached an unspoken agreement not to discuss their argument. They were being quite friendly to each other, though oddly formal. Ron, Michael and Harry wasted no time in telling Hermione about the conversation they had overheard between Madame Maxime and Hagrid, but Hermione didn't seem to find the news that Hagrid was a half-giant nearly as shocking as Ron did.

It was time now to think of the homework they had neglected during the first week of the holidays. Everybody seemed to be feeling rather flat now that Christmas was over, everybody except the twins, that is, who were starting to feel slightly nervous.

The trouble was that February the twenty-fourth looked a lot closer from this side of Christmas, and they still hadn't done anything about working out the clue inside the golden eggs.

They still needed some sort of clue about what to do, but they had nothing!

Snow was still thick upon the grounds. The greenhouse windows were covered in condensation so thick that they couldn't see out of them. Nobody was looking forward to Care of Magical Creatures much in this weather, though as Ron said, the skrewts would probably warm them up nicely, either by chasing them, or blasting off so forcefully that Hagrid's cabin would catch fire.

They were currently going across the bridge to get to class as Hermione was saying, "Harry, Michael, you told me you'd figured the eggs out weeks ago. The task is two days from now."

Harry, "really? I had no idea. I suppose Viktor's already figured it out."

Michael, "Fleur probably has to."

Hermiome, "I wouldn't know, we didn't actually talk about the tournament. Actually, we didn't really talk at all, Viktor's more of a physical being. I just mean he's not particularly…. Mostly he watches me study. It's a bit annoying actually. The ball was when he talked a lot more, and I got to see more of what he was really like. Anyway, you are trying to figure these eggs out aren't you?"

Michael, "what's that supposed to mean?"

Hermione, "I mean these tasks are supposed to test you in the most brutal way. They're almost cruel. And um, I'm scared for you two. You got by the dragons mostly on nerve and because one was Norbert, er, Norberta, I'm not sure it's going to be enough this time."

That's when they see Cedric approaching.

Cedric, "hey Harry."

Harry, "Cedric."

Michael was still sore about Cho and Cedric going to the ball, so he fled off as Cedric went to talk to Harry.

Cedric, "how are you?"

Harry, "spectacular."

Cedric, "look, I realize I never really thanked you properly for tipping me off about those dragons."

Harry, "forget about it. I'm sure you would have done the same for me."

Cedric, "exactly. You know the Prefects bathroom on the fifth floor?"

Harry nods.

Cedric, "it's not a bad place for a bath. Just take your egg and mull things over in the hot water…."

Cedric walked off as Harry gave a very confused look.

Soon, he, Hermione and Ron catched up with Michael as they arrived at Hagrid's cabin.

However, they found an elderly witch with closely cropped gray hair and a very prominent chin standing before his front door.

She barked, "hurry up, now, the bell rang five minutes ago."

Ron, "who're you? Where's Hagrid?"

The witch said, my name is Professor Grubbly-Plank. I am your temporary Care of Magical Creatures teacher."

Harry, "where's Hagrid?"

Professor Grubbly-Plank, "he is indisposed."

Soft and unpleasant laughter reached their ears. They all turned; Draco Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherins were joining the class.

All of them looked gleeful, and none of them looked surprised to see Professor Grubbly-Plank.

The professor began leading them past Hagrid's cabin, which had all of its curtains shut.

Michael, "what's wrong with Hagrid?"

Professor Grubbly-Plank, "never you mind."

Michael, "I do mind, though. What's up with him?"

Professor Grubbly-Plank acted as though she couldn't hear him. Michael already hated this woman, simply for the way she was acting.

She led them past the paddock where the huge Beauxbatons horses were and toward a tree on the edge of the forest, where a large and beautiful unicorn was tethered.

Many of the girls, "ooooohed", at the sight of the unicorn.

Lavender Brown, "oh it's so beautiful. How did she get it? They're supposed to be really hard to catch!"

The unicorn was so brightly white it made the snow all around look gray. It was pawing the ground nervously with its golden hooves and.

Professor Grubbly-Plank barked, throwing out an arm and catching Harry in the chest, "boys, keep back. They prefer the woman's touch, unicorns. Girls to the front, and approach with care, come on, easy does it- what the!?"

As she was talking she hadn't noticed Michael had gone over to the unicorn and was petting it gently.

Michael, "there we go, good girl…. You want a treat?"

Michael pulled out a carrot he always brought in order to calm down the skrewts, and fed it to the unicorn. Once the unicorn finished the carrot, Michael walked back over to his brother, glancing at the teacher and saying, "prefers a girl's touch, eh?"

The Professor grumbled before she and the girls walked slowly forward toward the unicorn, leaving the boys standing near the paddock fence. The moment Professor Grubbly-Plank was out of earshot, Harry turned to Ron and Michael.

Harry, "what d'you reckon's wrong with him? You don't think a skrewt…?"

Michael, "if it were anyone but Hagrid, I'd say maybe."

Draco, "oh, he hasn't been attacked, Potter's, if that's what you're thinking. No, he's just too ashamed to show his big, ugly face."

Michael, "what'chu talkin' 'bout Malfoy?"

Malfoy put his hand inside the pocket of his robes and pulled out a folded page of a newsprint.

Draco, "there you go. Hate to break it to you, Potter's…. Well, maybe not YOU Michael, ya filthy little git."

Michael didn't like the way Draco said that...

Draco smirked as Harry snatched the page, unfolded it, and read it, with Ron, Michael, Seamus, Dean, and Neville looking over his shoulder. It was an article topped with a picture of Hagrid looking extremely shifty.

DUMBLEDORE'S GIANT MISTAKE!

"Albus Dumbledore, eccentric Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, has never been afraid to make controversial staff appointments, writes Rita Skeeter, Special Correspondent.

In September of this year, he hired Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody, the notoriously ex-Auror, to teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, a decision that caused many raised eyebrows at the Ministry of Magic, given Moody's well-known habit of attacking anybody who makes an odd move. Mad-Eye Moody, however, looks responsible and kindly when set beside the part-human Dumbledore employs to teach Care of Magical Creatures.

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. Last year, however, Hagrid used his mysterious influence over the headmaster to secure the post of Care of Magical Creatures teacher, over the heads of many better-qualified candidates. An alarmingly large and ferocious-looking man, Hagrid has been using his newfound authority to terrify the students in his care with a horrific creatures. While Dumbledore turns a blind eye, Hagrid has maimed several pupils during a series of lessons that many admit to being 'very frightening.'

'I was attacked by a hippogriff, and my friend Vincent Crabbe got a bad bite off a flobberworm', says Draco Malfoy, a fourth-year student. 'We all hate Hagrid, but we're just too scared to say anything.'

Hagrid has no intention of ceasing his campaign of terror, however. In conversation with a Daily Prophet reporter last month, he admitted breeding creatures dubbed 'Blast-Ended Skrewts', highly dangerous crosses between manticores and fire-crabs. The creation of new breeds of magical creatures is, of course, an activity usually closely observed by the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures. Hagrid, however, considers himself to be above such petty restrictions.

'I was just having some fun', he said, before hastily changing the subject.

As if this were not enough, the Daily Prophet has now unearthed evidence that Hagrid is not actually a pure-blood wizard. He is not, in fact, even a pure human. His mother, we can exclusively reveal, is none other than the giantess Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown. Bloodthirsty and brutal, the giants brought themselves to the point of extinction by warring amongst themselves for countless years. The handful that remained joined the ranks of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and were responsible for some of the worst mass Muggle killings of that time.

While many of the giants who served He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named were killed by Aurors, Fridwulfa was not among them. It is possible she escaped to one of the giant communities still existing in foreign mountain ranges. If his antics during lessons are any evidence, however, Fridwulfa's son appears to have inherited her brutal nature. In a bizarre twist, Hagrid is reputed to have developed a close friendship with the twins who brought around You-Know-Who's fall from power, thereby driving Hagrid's own mother, like the rest of You-Know-Who's supporters, into hiding. Perhaps Harry and Michael Potter are unaware of the unpleasant truth about their large friend.

Especially Michael, given that it has recently been revealed he had been carrying his own dirty little secret!

Michael is in fact what Muggles call, "bi-sexual", meaning that he has an attraction to both girls and boys, seemingly harboring a crush on several students, including a Slytherin boy who was almost expelled for beating him up, close friend Cho Chang, and a boy in Hufflepuff he shared a kiss with at the Yule Ball. Maybe it is this secret that spawned his friendship with the Brutish half-giant?

But Albus Dumbledore surely has a duty to ensure that the Potter boys, along with their fellow students, are warned about the dangers of associating with part-giants."

Harry finished reading and looked up at Ron, whose mouth was hanging open.

Michael was shocked beyond words as he noticed several students giving him wary looks at the news of him being bi-sexual.

Ron, "how did she find out all of that?"

Hermione noticed Michael was starting to breath heavily, so she quickly went over to him and hugged him, trying to calm him down as Harry glared at Draco.

Harry, "what d'you mean, 'we all hate Hagrid?' What's this rubbish about Crabbe getting a bad bite off a flobberworm? They haven't even got teeth!"

Crabbe was snickering, apparently very pleased with himself.

Draco, "well, I think this should put an end to the oaf's teaching career. Half-giant…. And there was me thinking he'd just swallowed a bottle of Skele-Gro when he was young…. None of the parents are going to like this at all…. They'll be worried he'll eat their kids, ha, ha…."

Michael was glaring fire at Draco.

Draco, "and I love how she managed to fit in something about you, a filthy little-"

"Are you paying attention over there?"

Professor Grubbly-Plank's voice carried over; the girls were all clustered around the unicorn now. Harry and Michael were so angry that the Daily Prophet article shook in Harry's hands as they turned to stare at the unicorn, whose many magical properties Professor Grubbly-Plank was now enumerating in a loud voice.

...

A few minutes later...

Parvati, "Ihope she stays, that woman. That's more what I thought Care of Magical Creatures would be like…. Proper creatures like unicorns, not monsters…."

Michael muttered, "to you, they're monsters."

Harry, "what about Hagrid?"

Parvati, "what about him? He can still be gamekeeper, can't he?"

Parvati had been very cold toward Harry since the ball. He supposed that he ought to have paid her a bit more attention, but she seemed to have had a good time all the same. She was certainly telling anybody who would listen that she had made arrangements to meet the boy from Beauxbatons in Hogsmeade on the next weekend trip.

As they entered the Great Hall, Hermione said, "that was a really good lesson. I didn't know half the things Professor Grubbly-Plank told us about uni-"

Harry snarled as he shoved the article under Hermione's nose, "look at this."

Hermione's mouth fell open as she read. Her reaction was exactly the same as Ron's.

Hermione, "how did that horrible Skeeter woman find out? You don't think Hagrid told her?"

Harry said as he lead the way to the Gryffindor table in the great hall, "no. He never even told us, did he? I reckon she was so mad he wouldn't give her loads of horrible stuff about me, she went ferreting around to get him back."

Michael, "yeah, and how did she learn about me? I haven't told anyone except you three, Ginny, Luna, Neville and Dumbledore. My closest friends and family. I was gonna tell Hagrid after the holidays…. Too late for that, I guess…."

Hermione, "maybe she heard him telling Madame Maxime at the ball."

Ron, "we'd have seen her in the garden! Anyway, she's not supposed to come into school anymore, Hagrid said Dumbledore banned her…."

Harry, "maybe she's got an Invisibility Cloak. Sort of thing she'd do, isn't it, hide in bushes listening to people."

Hermione, "like you boys did, you mean."

Ron, "we weren't trying to hear him! We didn't have any choice! The big guy kept ralking about his giantess mother where anyone could have heard him!"

Michael, "we've got to go and see him. This evening, after Divination. Tell him we want him back…. You do want him back?"

Hermione, "I, well, I'm not going to pretend it didn't make a nice change, having a proper Care of Magical Creatures lesson for once, but I do want Hagrid back, of course I do!"

So that evening after dinner, the four of them left the castle once more and went down through the frozen grounds to Hagrid's cabin. They knocked, and Fang's booming barks answered.

Harry, "Hagrid, it's us!"

Michael, "open up!"

Hagrid didn't answer. They could hear Fang scratching at the door, whining, but it didn't open. They hammered on it for ten more minutes. Ron even went and banged on one of the windows, but there was no response.

They eventually gave up and walked back to the school.

Hermione, "what's he avoiding us for? He surely doesn't think we'd care about him being half-giant?"

But it seemed that Hagrid did care. They didn't see a sign of him all week. He didn't appear at the staff table at mealtimes, they didn't see him going about his gamekeeper duties on the grounds, and Professor Grubbly-Plank continued to take the Care of Magical Creatures classes.

She eventually showed off these small creatures called Nifflers.

They looked similar to moles, but were much different than them.

Michael had actually been allowed to keep one, since he had been able to pet the unicorn with no fuss.

He named the Niffler, Nosey, and Fleet had become very protective of the little creature.

Malfoy was gloating at every possible opportunity.

There was a Hogsmeade visit halfway through January. Hermione was very surprised that Harry and Michael were going to go.

Hermione, "I just thought you'd want to take advantage of the common room being quiet. Really get to work on those eggs."

Harry, "oh I, I reckon I've got a pretty good idea what it's about now."

Michael, "er, yeah, me too."

Hermione, "have you really? Well done!"

The twins' insides gave a guilty squirm, but they ignored them. They still had five weeks to work out that egg clue, after all, and that was ages…. Whereas if they went into Hogsmeade, they might run into Hagrid, and get a chance to persuade him to come back.

They, Ron, and Hermione left the castle together on Saturday and set off through the cold, wet grounds toward the gates. As they passed the Durmstrang ship moored in the lake, they saw Krum emerge onto the deck, dressed in nothing but swimming trunks. He was very skinny indeed, but apparently a lot tougher than he looked, because he climbed up onto the side of the ship, stretched out his arms, and dived right into the lake.

Harry, "he's mad."

Krum's dark head bobbed out into the middle of the lake.

Harry, "it must be freezing, it's January!"

Hermione, "it's a lot colder where he comes from. I suppose it feels quite warm to him."

Ron, "yeah, but there's still the giant squid."

He didn't sound anxious, if anything, he sounded hopeful. Hermione noticed his tone of voice and frowned.

Hermione, "he's really nice, you know. He's not at all like you'd think, coming from Durmstrang. He likes it much better here, he told me."

Ron said nothing. He hadn't mentioned Krum since the ball.

Michael and Harry kept their eyes peeled for a sign of Hagrid we all the way down High Street, and went to visit to the Three Broomsticks, since Hagrid didn't seem to be in any other shops.

The pub was as crowded as ever, but one quick look around at all the tables told them that Hagrid wasn't there. They all went up to the bar, ordered four butter-beers from Madam Rosmerta, and thought gloomily that they might just as well have stayed behind and listened to the eggs wailing after all.

Hermione, "doesn't he ever go into the office? Look!"

She pointed into the mirror behind the bar, and they saw Bagman reflected there, sitting in a shadowy corner with a bunch of goblins.

Eventually, Bagman went over and talked to the teens. He mentioned how Mr. Crouch hasn't been seen in awhile and that those goblins were looking for him, how the ministry were searching for Bertha Jorgins, and even offering aid to the boy's about the eggs.

Michael and Harry refused, not wanting to cheat again.

Eventually, Bagman left with George, Fred, and the goblins all following him.

And then someone else entered that made Ron go, "uh-oh…."

Rita Skeeter had just entered. She was wearing banana-yellow robes today; her long nails were painted pink, and she was accompanied by her photographer. She bought drinks. She and the photographer made their way through the crowds to a table nearby. Michael, Harry, Ron, and Hermione glare at her as she approached. She was talking fast and looking very satisfied about something.

"... didn't seem very keen to talk to us, did he, Bozo? Now, why would that be, do you think? And what's he doing with a pack of goblins in tow anyway? Showing them the sights…. What nonsense…. He was always a bad liar. Reckon something's up? Think we should do a bit of digging? 'Disgraced Ex-Head of Magical Games and Sports, Ludo Bagman….' Snappy start to a sentence, Bozo, we just need to find a story to fit it-"

Harry, "trying to ruin someone else's life?"

A few people looked around. Rita's eyes widened behind her jeweled spectacles as she saw who had spoken.

Rita, "Michael! Harry! How lovely! Why don't you come and join-?"

Michael, "I wouldn't come near you with a ten-foot broomstick. What did you do that to Hagrid for, eh? And why the Hell did you reveal that stuff about me?"

Rita raised her heavily penciled eyebrows.

Rita, "our readers have a right to the truth, boys. I am merely doing my-"

Harry, "who cares if he's half-giant? Who cares if my brother likes girls and boys? There's nothing wrong with them!"

The whole pub had gone very quiet. Madam Rosmerta was staring over from behind the bar, apparently oblivious to the fact that the flagon she was filling with mead was overflowing.

Rita's smile flickered very slightly, but she hitched it back almost at once; she snapped open her handbag, pulled out her Quick-Quotes Quill, and said, "how about giving me an interview about the Hagrid you know? The man behind the muscles? Your unlikely friendship and the reasons behind it. Would you call him a father substitute? And what about your brother? What does he mean to you? Who is he outside of his attraction for both sides of the buffet? Do you accept him, when others don't?"

Hermione stood up, her butterbeer clutched in her hand as though it were a grenade.

Hermione, "you horrible woman. You don't care, do you? Anything for a story, and anyone will do, won't they? Even Ludo Bagman-"i

Rita, "sit down, you silly little girl, and don't talk about things you don't understand", said Rita Skeeter, her eyes hardening, "I know things about Ludo Bagman that would make your hair curl…. Not that it needs it-"

Hermione, "let's go, c'mon, boys…."

They left; many people were staring at them as they went. Harry and Michael glanced back as they reached the door. Rita Skeeter's Quick-Quotes Quill was out; it was zooming backward and forward over a piece of parchment on the table.

Michael quickly put his head back into the doorframe, pointed at the Quick-Quotes Quill with his wand and yelled, "Incendio, bitch!"

A ball of Fire set the notes and quill ablaze!

As Rita panicked, Michael growled, "you just love ruining people's lives, don't you, you pathetic sack of meat?"

He then quickly ran off back to the others.

Ron, "she'll be after you next, Hermione."

Hermione, "let her try! I'll show her! Silly little girl, am I? Oh, I'll get her back for this. First Harry, then Hagrid, and then Michael!"

Ron, "you don't want to go upsetting Rita Skeeter. I'm serious, Hermione, she'll dig up something on you-"

Hermione, "my parents don't read the Daily Prophet. She can't scare me into hiding! And Hagrid isn't hiding anymore! He should never have let that excuse for a human being upset him! Come on!"

Breaking into a run, she led them all the way back up the road, through the gates, and up through the grounds to Hagrid's cabin.

The curtains were still drawn, and they could hear Fang barking as they approached.

Hermione, "Hagrid! Hagrid, that's enough! We know you're in there! Nobody cares if your mum was a giantess, Hagrid! You can't let that foul Skeeter woman do this to you! Hagrid, get out here, you're just being-"

The door began to open.

Hermione, "about t-!"

The quartet found themselves face-to-face, not with Hagrid, but with Dumbledore.

Dumbledore, "good afternoon."

Hermione, "we, er, we wanted to see Hagrid."

Michael was relieved to see Dumbledore there.

Dumbledore, "yes, I surmised as much. Why don't you come in?"

Hermione, "oh…. Um…. Okay."

She, Michael, Ron, and Harry went into the cabin; Fang launched himself upon Harry the moment he entered, barking madly and trying to lick his ears. Harry fended off Fang and looked around.

Hagrid was sitting at his table, where there were two large mugs of tea. He looked like a mess. His face was blotchy, eyes swollen, and he had gone to the other extreme where his hair was concerned; far from trying to make it behave, it now looked like a wig of tangled wire.

The Norberta model kept nuzzling his face, trying to cheer him up.

Harry, "hi, Hagrid."

Michael, "hi."

Hagrid looked up.

" 'Lo", he said in a very hoarse voice.

Dumbledore, "more tea, I think."

He closed the door behind the teens and drew out his wand, twiddling it; a revolving tea tray appeared in midair along with a plate of cakes.

Dumbledore magicked the tray onto the table, and everybody sat down.

There was a slight pause, and then Dumbledore said, "did you by any chance hear what Miss Granger was shouting, Hagrid?"

Hermione went slightly pink.

Dumbledore smiled at her and continued, "Hermione, Michael, Harry, and Ron still seem to want to know you, judging by the way they were attempting to break down the door."

Michael, "of course we still want to know you!"

Harry, "yeah. You don't think anything that Skeeter cow- sorry, Professor."

Dumbledore, "I have gone temporarily deaf and haven't any idea what you said, Harry."

Harry, "er- right."

Michael, "we just meant…. Hagrid, how could you think we'd care what that woman wrote about you? None of my friends cared what she wrote about me. So why should you be any different?"

Two fat tears leaked out of Hagrid's eyes and fell slowly into his tangled beard.

Dumbledore, "living proof of what I've been telling you, Hagrid. I have shown you the letters from the countless parents who remember you from their own days here, telling me in no uncertain terms that if I sacked you, they would have something to say about it."

Hagrid, "not all of 'em. Not all of 'em wan' me ter stay."

Dumbledore, "really, Hagrid, if you are holding out for universal popularity, I'm afraid you will be in this cabin for a very long time. Not a week has passed since I became headmaster of this school when I haven't had at least one owl complaining about the way I run it. But what should I do? Barricade myself in my study and refuse to talk to anybody?"

Hagrid, "yeh, yeh're not half-giant!"

Harry, "Hagrid, look what we've got for relatives!"

Michael, "he's right! Look at Uncle Vernon and Dudley!"

Dumbledore, "an excellent point. My own brother, Aberforth, was prosecuted for practicing inappropriate charms on a goat. It was all over the papers, but did Aberforth hide? No, he did not! He held his head high and went about his business as usual! Of course, I'm not entirely sure he can read, so that may not have been bravery…."

Hermione, "come back and teach, Hagrid, please come back, we really miss you."

Hagrid gulped. More tears leaked out down his cheeks and into his tangled beard.

Dumbledore, "I refuse to accept your resignation, Hagrid, and I expect you back at work on Monday. You will join me for breakfast at eight-thirty in the Great Hall. No excuses. Good afternoon to you all."

Dumbledore left the cabin, pausing only to scratch Fang's ears and offer Michael a pat on the back and whispered, "I told you your friends would accept you. Hagrid has as well…."

When the door had shut behind him, Hagrid began to sob into his hands. Hermione kept patting his arm.

Hagrid looked up, his eyes very red, and said, "great man, Dumbledore…. Great man..."

Ron, "yeah, he is. Can I have one of these cakes, Hagrid?"

Hagrid, "help yerself. Ar, he's righ', o' course, yeh're all righ'... I bin stupid…. My ol' dad woulda bin ashamed o' the way I've bin behavin'... Never shown you a picture of my old dad, have I? Here…."

Hagrid got up, went over to his dresser, opened a drawer, and pulled out a picture of a short wizard with Hagrid's crinkled black eyes, beaming as he sat on top of Hagrid's shoulder. Hagrid was a good seven or eight feet tall, judging by the apple tree beside him, but his face was beardless, young, round, and smooth, he looked hardly older than eleven.

Hagrid, "tha' was taken jus' after I got inter Hogwarts. Dad was dead chuffed…. Thought I migh' not be a wizard, see, 'cos me mum…. Well, anyway. 'Course, I never was great at magic, really…. But at least he never saw me expelled. Died, see, in me second year…. Dumbledore was the one who stuck up for me after Dad went. Got me the gamekeeper job…. Trusts people, he does. Gives 'em second chances…. Tha's what sets him apar' from other heads, see. He'll accept anyone at Hogwarts, s'long as they've got the talent. Knows people can turn out okay even if their families weren'…. Well…. All tha' respectable. But some don' understand that. There's some who'd always hold it against yeh…. There's some who'd even pretend they just had big bones rather than stand up an' say; I am what I am, an' I'm not ashamed. 'Never be ashamed,' my ol' dad used ter say, 'there's some who'll hold it against you, but they're not worth botherin' with.' An' he was right. I've bin an idiot. I'm not botherin' with her no more, I promise yeh that. Big bones…. I'll give her big bones."

Michael, Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another nervously; Harry would rather have taken fifty Blast-Ended Skrewts for a walk than admit to Hagrid that he had overheard him talking to Madame Maxime, but Hagrid was still talking, apparently unaware that he had said anything odd.

Hagrid said as he looked up from the photo, "yeh know wha', Harry, Michael…. I firs' met you, you reminded me o' me a bit. Mum an' Dad gone, an' you was feelin' like yeh wouldn' fit in at Hogwarts, remember? Not sure yeh were really up to it…. An' now look at yeh both! School champions. Yeh know what I'd love, boys? I'd love yeh ter win, I really would. It'd show 'em all…. Yeh don' have ter be pureblood ter do it. Yeh don' have ter be ashamed of what yeh are. It'd show 'em Dumbledore's the one who's got it righ', lettin' anyone in as long as they can do magic. How you doin' with those eggs?"

Harry, "great."

Michael, "really great."

Hagrid's miserable face broke into a wide, watery smile.

Hagrid, "tha's my boy's…. You show 'em, boys, you show 'em. Beat 'em all."

Before the teens left, Hagrid said, "an' Michael?"

Michael turned to Hagrid.

Hagrid, "any boy er girl would be lucky te hav' ye in their lives."

Michsel gave a tear filled smile before he hugged Hagrid and left with the others.

Lying to Hagrid wasn't quite like lying to anyone else. Harry and Michael went back to the castle later that afternoon with Ron and Hermione, unable to banish the image of the happy expression on Hagrid's whiskery face as he had imagined them winning the tour-nament. The incomprehensible egg weighed more heavily than ever on their consciences that evening, and by the time they had got into bed, they had made up their minds. It was time to shelve their pride.

Harry was gonna see if Cedric's hint was worth anything.

And Michael, well, he would learn what he needed to do soon enough….

….

Reviews:

vulcran: yeah, I'm inclined to agree.

Canadude2029: indeed. Things got kinda crazy at the ball.

….

So just a heads up to everyone... An admin removed Titans: Elemental for no reason whatsoever. So, for those who read the story, go to AO3 to view it….