The next morning, we were greeted by a rather pleasant surprise at breakfast. Demelza, Amy and I entered the Great Hall to see none other than Rubeus Hagrid sitting at the staff table, having returned at last. I put my arm in front of Demelza and Amy to stop them walking and pointed this out to them. He was getting a rather mixed reception
"When did he get back?" Amy asked
"No idea, he definitely wasn't at either of the Quidditch matches, and I didn't see him all day yesterday" said Demelza
"It must have been late last night" I said
We sat down next to Harry, Ron and Hermione, and I had barely opened my mouth when Hermione cut across me.
"We know, we saw him last night. He explained, but we can't talk about it here, let's meet tonight and I'll tell you everything"
"I mean it is Sunday. We could just go and ask him ourselves"
"I don't think he'll want anyone else to know, but I think you three can, you're trustworthy enough"
"You've heard a lot about what the London group is up to anyway, so you may as well hear about Hagrid's excursion, it's related to them" said Harry
I liked his usage of "London Group" as a cover up for the Order in a way that still allowed us to know what he was talking about.
"The three of us have got homework to do anyway, so it can wait" Demelza said. Amy and I shared an exasperated glance.
"Also, I've got to see Hagrid myself" said Hermione "he's been acting very blasé about Umbridge inspecting him, he's still insisting on showing us stuff that will more than likely get him sacked. I'm not having it though, I'll give him lesson plans if I must!"
"What's up with his face?" asked Amy
"Wouldn't say" said Ron "believe me, we tried to get it out of him but he refused to budge"
Someone else who refused to budge was Demelza, who insisted that the three of us focus on the work we had to do as it was more important than Hagrid's adventure. So it was with great reluctance that Amy and I accompanied her back up to Gryffindor Tower after we'd eaten, instead of going straight to questioning Hagrid.
That night, Hermione came to our dormitory to tell us everything we wanted to know.
"So, where did he go and why?" I asked
"Right, well, he went to find the giants in Eastern Europe, to try and recruit them to the Order's side, and it was a long story. He started off by telling us that because he can't use magic, and that the Ministry's been watching the order and everything, they couldn't use any magical means of getting there, so he and Madame Maxime-" Hermione began
"Madame Maxime went with him?" said Amy
"Um, yes, why?"
"I knew there was something between them" Amy said smugly
"Anyway" said Hermione, annoyed at the needless interruption, "for a while, they had a Ministry official on their tail, but they managed to ditch them around Dijon-"
"Haven't you been to Dijon?" I said
"Look, do you want to hear this story or not?" snapped Hermione
"Yes of course!"
"Well stop with the pointless interruptions then! So, after they made sure they weren't being followed, they used some magic to help speed their travel up. Hagrid claims they ran into some mad trolls on the Polish border and that he had a disagreement with a vampire in a pub in Minsk, before they eventually reached the mountains"
"Did he say which mountain range specifically?" asked Demelza
"No he didn't. So, it was nightfall when they arrived, and they found them, so they waited until dawn, and then they walked down to them"
"Wait" I said "they just walked right into a giant camp?"
"Well, Hagrid says Dumbledore told them how to do it, which was by giving gifts to the Gurg, which means the leader. Some of the giants wanted to kill them on sight, but Hagrid and Maxime just ignored them and showed them some Gubraithian fire"
"That's everlasting fire isn't it?" said Demelza. Hermione nodded, smiling.
"Glad you pay attention in class. Harry and Ron don't, they had to ask what that was, even though Flitwick's mentioned it at least twice before. Anyway, Dumbledore was the one who charmed the fire, so Hagrid told them it was a gift from him. Once they had it translated, they were very happy with it, so Hagrid said he would return the next day with something else, as Dumbledore had told them to take it slowly. The next morning, they talked with a few of the giants who spoke English and gave them a goblin made battle helmet. It was quite a promising conversation, apparently, as the leader had heard of Dumbledore and how he was pro giant. But-" she bit her lip in an upset manner "that night it all went wrong"
"In what way?" said Amy slowly
"A big fight broke out among the giants, and the Gurg was killed. He was replaced with a new one, who was much less friendly. In fact, he picked up Hagrid when they approached, and Maxime had to use magic to enable them to get away.
"No way!" Demelza, Amy and I said
"Yep" Hermione said, nodding "so they spent some time trying to re-think their strategy, and in that time, some Death Eaters, including Mcnair, showed up. The new Gurg took a much bigger liking to them"
"So they've joined Voldemort then?" I asked
"Yeah, or at least it seems more likely they'll join his side than ours. Hagrid and Maxime did manage to convince a few of them who didn't like the new Gurg to join them, but apparently those faithful to him attacked the others, and those that survived didn't want anything to do with Hagrid after that"
Hermione sighed and bit her lip sadly.
"Hagrid also found out that his mum had died years ago, though he took it well. We wanted to ask him more about what took him so long to get back and why he was injured, but at that moment, Umbridge arrived"