𝗟𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗢𝗡 𝗕𝗢𝗬

ACT ONE, CHAPTER THIRTEEN
finally meeting hagrid.

VENUS HAD HEARD of this Hagrid character since the beginning of the year, and now, as she was about to meet him for the first time, she found herself to be a little nervous. She had sprinted up to the dormitory with Hermione, the two of them pulling on all of their winter gear. By the time they had rushed back down the stairs, Ron and Harry were already waiting for them. Harry was holding the parchment Venus recognized to be the Marauder's Map and a sort of silvery cloak. The two of them stared at Venus and Hermione incredulously at their gear.

"Well, it's cold out there!" Hermione insisted, and Ron clicked his tongue impatiently.

"This is my Invisibility Cloak," Harry explained to Venus very quickly. "It'll be a bit tight with four of us, but we can make it. Come on."

The four of them crept through the portrait hole and slung the cloak over all of them. There was barely any room — all of them were pressed up against each other and Ron even had to crouch to prevent his feet from showing. Moving very slowly and cautiously, they descended many staircases and paused at regular intervals to check the map for Filch or Mrs. Norris. Luckily, they saw no one except for Nearly Headless Nick, who was gliding along while absentmindedly humming something that sounded a little to similar to Weasley Is Our King.

They passed through the entrance hall and made their way out into the silent, snowy grounds. Venus recalled Charlotte telling her that the hut where Grubbly-Plank taught in front of was Hagrid's cabin, and sure enough, there were little golden squares of light and smoke coiling up from a chimney from that same building. Harry, Hermione, and Ron all sped off in a quick march — Venus struggling to keep up — until they reached the wooden front door of the cabin. Harry knocked three times, and a dog started to frantically bark from inside.

"Hagrid, it's us!" Harry called through they keyhole.

"Shoulda known!" a gruff voice responded. Harry, Hermione, and Ron all beamed at each other. "Bin home three seconds . . . out the way, Fang . . . out the way, yeh dozy dog . . ."

The bolt was drawn back, and the door creaked open. Venus could vaguely see a head peek out, but her vision was being blocked by Ron. However, Hermione immediately screamed.

"Merlin's beard, keep it down! Under that cloak, are yeh? Well, get in, get in!"

"I'm sorry!" Hermione gasped, the four of them squeezing past Hagrid into the house and pulling off the cloak. "I just — oh, Hagrid!"

"It's nuthin', it's nuthin'!" Hagrid tried to reassure her hastily, shutting the door behind them and hurrying to close all the curtains.

Venus took this time to really study Hagrid. He had long hair and a long beard, which were both matted with congealed blood, yet still wild and tangled at the same time. His right eye was perfectly fine, but the left one was now a puffy slit surrounded by large purple and black bruises. Cuts decorated his face and hands — some of which were still bleeding. His ginormous figure moved gingerly around the hut. A thick black traveling cloak laid on the back of a chair and a large backpack leaned against the wall, telling Venus that he had just gotten home only minutes before. Hagrid then limped over to the fire and placed a copper kettle over it.

"What happened to you?" Harry demanded while the dog named Fang tried to lick all of their faces.

"Told yeh, nuthin'," Hagrid firmly stated. "Want a cuppa?"

"Come off it, you're in a right state!" Ron added.

"I'm tellin' yeh, I'm fine." Hagrid straightened up to beam at all of them, but he winced. "Blimey, it's good ter see you three again — had good summers, did yeh? Wait . . ." He focused on Venus. "Who are yeh?"

"That's Star," Harry answered.

Venus cast a look at Harry — she didn't expect Hagrid to know her by that nickname at all — before turning back to Hagrid with a polite smile. "Hi, Venus Black, transfer student from Ilvermorny in America. It's really nice to meet you, Hagrid. I've heard a lot about you."

"Hagrid, you've been attacked!" Ron continued, apparently eager to skip past the introductions.

"Fer the las' time, it's nuthin'!" Hagrid replied.

"Would you say it was nothing if one of us turned up with a pound of mince instead of a face?"

"You ought to go and see Madam Pomfrey, Hagrid," Hermione told him anxiously. "Some of those cuts look nasty."

"I'm dealin' with it, all righ'?" Hagrid said repressively.

He then walked across to the enormous wooden table that stood in the middle of his cabin. Hagrid moved aside a tea towel that had been lying on it, revealing a very large raw, bloody, green-tinged steak underneath. Venus stared at it for a second. What was that?

"You're not going to eat that, are you, Hagrid?" Ron asked. "It looks poisonous."

"It's s'posed ter look like that, it's dragon meat," Hagrid responded. "An' I didn' get it ter eat." He picked up the steak and slapped it over the left side of his face, green blood beginning to trickle down into his beard as he let out a moan of satisfaction. "Tha's better. It helps with the stingin', yeh know."

"So are you going to tell us what's happened to you?" Harry questioned.

"Can', Harry. Top secret. More'n me job's worth ter tell yeh that."

"Did the Giants beat you up, Hagrid?" Hermione inquired quietly.

Venus kind of also assumed that. Charlotte had told her that Hagrid was half-Giant, and Malfoy had said that Hagrid was dealing with something too big for him. What was bigger than a Giant?

Hagrid's fingers slipped on the dragon steak, making it fall to his chest before he quickly caught it and slapped it back over his face. "Giants? Who said anythin' abou' Giants? Who yeh bin talkin' to? Who's told yeh what I've — who's said I've bin — eh?"

"We guessed," Hermione voiced.

"Oh, yeh did, did yeh?"

"It was kind of . . . obvious," Ron admitted, Harry and Venus nodding in agreement.

Hagrid glared at them before snorting in amusement, throwing the steak onto the table and going back to the whistling kettle. "Never known kids like you three fer knowin' more'n yeh oughta." He then splashed boiling water into four bucket-shaped mugs. "An' I'm not complimentin' yeh, neither. Nosy, some'd call it. Interferin'."

Harry grinned and sat down at the table. "So you have been to look for Giants?"

Venus, Ron, and Hermione followed in suit. Hagrid set the tea in front of them before sitting down as well. He picked up his steak again and slapped it back over his face.

"Yeah, all righ'," Hagrid revealed. "I have."

"And you found them?" Hermione urged in a hushed voice.

"Well, they're not that difficult ter find, ter be honest. Pretty big, see."

"Where are they?" Ron asked.

"Mountains," Hagrid answered.

"So why don't Muggles—?"

"They do. O'ny their deaths are always putdown ter mountaineerin' accidents, aren' they?"

"Lovely," Venus muttered as Hagrid adjusted his steak to cover more of the bruising.

"Come on, Hagrid, tell us what you've been up to!" Ron ordered. "Tell us about being attacked by the Giants and Harry can tell you about being attacked by the Dementors—"

Hagrid — at the same time — choked in his mug and dropped his steak. A large mixture of spit, tea, and dragon blood was sprayed over the table as Hagrid coughed and spluttered. The steak also slid to the four with a soft splat.

"Whadda yeh mean, attacked by Dementors?" Hagrid growled.

Hermione's eyes widened. "Didn't you know?"

"I don' know anything that's been happenin' since I left. I was on a secret mission, wasn' I, didn' wan' owls followin' me all over the place — ruddy Dementors! Yeh're not serious?"

"Yeah, I am, they turned up in Little Whinging and attacked my cousin and me, and then the Ministry of Magic expelled me—" Harry began.

"WHAT?" Hagrid shouted.

"—and I had to go to a hearing and everything, but tell us about the Giants first."

"You were expelled?"

"Tell us about your summer and I'll tell you about mine."

Hagrid glared at him through his good eye. Harry stared straight back, an expression of innocent determination painting his face. Venus placed her chin in the palm of her hand and raised an eyebrow. This was bound to be interesting.

"Oh, all righ'," Hagrid finally voiced, bending down and tugging the dragon steak out of Fang's mouth.

"Oh, Hagrid, don't, it's not hygien—" Hermione started to protest.

However, it was too late. Hagrid had already put the steak back over his swollen eye.

He took another fortifying gulp of tea before beginning. "Well, we set off righ' after term ended—"

"Madame Maxime went with you, then?" Hermione interrupted.

"Who?" Venus questioned.

Ron looked over at her. "Headmistress of Beauxbatons. They were in the Triwizard Tournament."

"Hey, thanks."

"Don't worry about it."

A softened expression appeared on Hagrid's face. "Yeah, tha's right. Yeah, it was jus' the pair of us. An' I'll tell yeh this, she's not afraid of roughin' it, Olympe. Yeh know, she's a fine, well-dressed woman, an' knowin' where we was goin' I wondered 'ow she'd feel abou' clamberin' over boulders an' sleepin' in caves an' tha', bu' she never complained once."

"You knew where you were going?" Harry inquired. "You knew where the Giants were?"

"Well, Dumbledore knew, an' he told us."

"Are they hidden?" Ron asked. "Is it a secret, where they are?"

Hagrid shook his shaggy head. "Not really. It's jus' that mos' wizards aren' bothered where they are, s' long as it's a good long way away. But where they are's very difficult ter get ter, fer humans anyway, so we needed Dumbledore's instructions. Took us abou' a month ter get there—"

"A month? But — why couldn't you just grab a Portkey or something?"

"Does it have anything to do the Ministry watching everyone?" Venus cut in. "Seriously, I think they're more paranoid than M.A.C.U.S.A., which is saying something."

Hagrid nodded to her. "Right yeh are, Venus. We're bein' watched, Ron."

"What d'you mean?" Ron questioned.

"Yeh don' understand. The Ministry's keepin' an eye on Dumbledore an' anyone they reckon's in league with him, an'—"

"We know about that," Harry interjected quickly. "We know about the Ministry watching Dumbledore—"

"So you couldn't use magic to get there?" Ron inquired, looking very thunderstruck. "You had to act like Muggles all the way?"

"Well, not exactly all the way," Hagrid replied. "We jus' had ter be careful, 'cause Olympe an' me, we stick out a bit—" Ron snorted in amusement before hastily gulping down some tea, making Venus shake her head "—so we're not hard ter follow. We was pretendin' we was goin' on holiday together, so we got inter France an' we made like we was headin' fer where Olympe's school is, 'cause we knew we was bein' tailed by someone from the Ministry. We had to go slow, 'cause I'm not really s'posed ter use magic an' we knew the Ministry'd be lookin' fer a reason ter run us in. But we managed ter give the berk tailin' us the slip round abou' Dee-John—"

"Ooooh, Dijon?" Hermione repeated excitedly. "I've been there on holiday, did you see—?" The look on Ron's face immediately made her fall silent.

"We chanced a bit o' magic after that, and it wasn' a bad journey. Ran inter a couple o' mad Trolls on the Polish border, an' I had a sligh' disagreement with a Vampire in a pub in Minsk, but apart from tha', couldn't'a bin smoother. An' then we reached the place, an' we started trekkin' up through the mountains, lookin' fer signs of 'em . . . we had ter lay off the magic once we got near 'em. Partly 'cause they don' like wizards an' we didn' want ter put their backs up too soon, and partly 'cause Dumbledore had warned us You-Know-Who was bound ter be after the Giants an' all. Said it was odds on he'd sent a messenger off ter them already. Told us ter be very careful of drawin' attention ter ourselves as we got nearer in case there was Death Eaters around."

He paused for a moment to take a long draft of tea.

"Go on!" Harry exclaimed urgently.

"Found 'em. Went over a ridge one nigh' an' there they was, spread ou' underneath us. Little fires burnin' below an' huge shadows . . . it was like watchin' bits o' the mountain movin'."

"How big are they?" Ron inquired in a hushed voice.

"'Bout twenty feet," Hagrid responded casually. "Some o' the bigger ones mighta bin twenty-five."

"And how many were there?" Harry asked.

"I reckon abou' seventy or eighty."

Venus' eyebrows knit in thought. "That's all?"

"Yep, eighty left, an' there was loads once, musta bin a hundred diff'rent tribes from all over the world," Hagrid revealed sadly. "But they've bin dyin' out fer ages. Wizards killed a few, o' course, but mostly they killed each other, an' now they're dyin' out faster than ever. They're not made ter live bunched up together like tha'. Dumbledore says it's our fault, it was the wizards who forced 'em to go an' made 'em live a good long way from us an' they had no choice but ter stick together fer their own protection."

"So, you saw them and then what?" Harry continued.

"Well, we waited till morning, didn' want ter go sneakin' up on 'em in the dark, fer our own safety. 'Bout three in themornin' they fell asleep jus' where they was sittin'. We didn' dare sleep .Fer one thing, we wanted ter make sure none of 'em woke up an' came up where we were, an' fer another, the snorin' was unbelievable. Caused an avalanche near mornin'. Anyway, once it was light we wen' down ter see 'em."

Ron looked awestruck. "Just like that? You just walked right into a Giant camp?"

"Well, Dumbledore'd told us how ter do it," Hagrid told him. "Give the Gurg gifts, show some respect, yeh know."

Harry seemed confused. "Give the what gifts?"

"Oh, the Gurg — means the chief."

"How could you tell which one was the Gurg?" Ron questioned.

Hagrid grunted in amusement. "No problem. He was the biggest, the ugliest, an' the laziest. Sittin' there waitin' ter be brought food by the others. Dead goats an' such like. Name o' Karkus. I'd put him at twenty-two, twenty-three feet, an' the weight of a couple o' bull elephants. Skin like rhino hide an' all."

"And you just walked up to him?" Hermione breathed out.

"Well . . . down ter him, where he was lyin' in the valley. They was in this dip between four pretty high mountains, see, beside a mountain lake, an' Karkus was lyin' by the lake roarin' at the others ter feedhim an' his wife. Olympe an' I went down the mountainside—"

"Wouldn't they have killed you on the spot once they saw you?" Venus inquired.

Hagrid shrugged. "It was def'nitely on some of their minds, but we did what Dumbledore told us ter do, which was ter hold our gift up high an' keep our eyes on the Gurg an' ignore the others. So tha's what we did. An' the rest of 'em went quiet an' watched us pass an' we got right up ter Karkus' feet an' we bowed an' put our presen tdown in front o' him."

"What do you give a giant?" Ron asked eagerly. "Food?"

"Nah, he can get food all righ' fer himself. We took him magic. Giants like magic, jus' don't like us usin' it against 'em. Anyway, that firs' day we gave him a branch o' Gubraithian fire."

Hermione let out a soft wow. Venus nodded in impressment. However, Harry and Ron both frowned in confusion.

"A branch of—?" Ron began.

"Everlasting fire, you ought to know that by now, Professor Flitwick's mentioned it at least twice in class!" Hermione scolded.

Hagrid quickly intervened before Ron could talk back. "Well anyway, Dumbledore'd bewitched this branch to burn evermore, which isn' somethin' any wizard could do, an' so I lies it down in the snow by Karkus' feet and says, A gift to the Gurg of the Giants from Albus Dumbledore, who sends his respectful greetings."

"And what did Karkus say?" Harry demanded.

"Nothin'. Didn' speak English."

"You're kidding!"

"Didn' matter, Dumbledore had warned us tha' migh' happen. Karkus knew enough to yell fer a couple o' Giants who knew our lingo an' they translated fer us."

"And did he like the present?" Ron questioned.

"Oh yeah, it went down a storm once they understood what it was," Hagrid said, turning over his steak so the cooler side was resting on his swollen eye. "Very pleased. So then I said, Albus Dumbledore asks the Gurg to speak with his messenger when he returns tomorrow with another gift."

"Why couldn't you speak to them that day?" Hermione inquired.

"Dumbledore wanted us ter take it very slow. Let 'em see we kept our promises. We'll come back tomorrow with another present, an' then we do come back with another present — gives a good impression, see? An' gives them time ter test out the firs' present an' find out it's a good one, an' get 'em eager fer more. In any case, Giants like Karkus — overload 'em with information an' they'll kill yeh jus' to simplify things. So we bowed outta the way an' went off an' found ourselves a nice little cave ter spend that night in, an' the followin' mornin' we went back an' this time we found Karkus sittin' upwaitin' fer us lookin' all eager."

"And you talked to him?"

"Oh yeah. Firs' we presented him with a nice battle helmet — Goblin-made an' indestructible, yeh know — an' then we sat down an' we talked."

"What did he say?"

"Not much. Listened mostly. But there were good signs. He'd heard o' Dumbledore, heard he'd argued against the killin' of the last Giants in Britain. Karkus seemed ter be quite int'rested in what Dumbledore had ter say. An' a few o' the others, 'specially the ones who had some English, they gathered round an' listened too. We were hopeful when we left that day. Promised ter come back next day with another present. But that night it all wen' wrong."

Venus frowned. "Oh. How so?"

"What d'you mean?" Ron asked quickly.

"Well, like I say, they're not meant ter live together, Giants," Hagrid explained sadly. "Not in big groups like that. They can' help themselves, they half kill each other every few weeks. The men fight each other an' the women fight each other, the remnants of the old tribes fight each other, an' that's even without squabbles over food an' the best fires an' sleepin' spots. Yeh'd think, seein' as how their whole race is abou' finished, they'd lay off each other, but . . ." Hagrid let out a very deep sigh. "That night a fight broke out, we saw it from the mouth of our cave, lookin' down on the valley. Went on fer hours, yeh wouldn' believe the noise. An' when the sun came up the snow was scarlet an' his head was lyin' at the bottom o' the lake."

Hermione gasped. "Whose head?"

"Karkus'. There was a new Gurg, Golgomath." He sighed once more. "Well, we hadn' bargained on a new Gurg two days after we'd made friendly contact with the firs' one, an' we had a funny feelin' Golgomath wouldn' be so keen ter listen to us, but wehad ter try."

"You went to speak to him?" Ron questioned incredulously. "After you'd watched him rip off another Giant's head?"

"'Course we did, we hadn' gone all that way ter give up after two days!" Hagrid answered. "We wen' down with the next present we'd meant ter give ter Karkus. I knew it was no go before I'd opened me mouth. He was sitting there wearin' Karkus' helmet, leerin' at us as we got nearer. He's massive, one o' the biggest ones there. Black hair an' matchin' teeth an' a necklace o' bones. Human-lookin' bones, some of 'em. Well, I gave it a go — held out a great roll o' dragon skin — an' said A gift fer the Gurg of the Giants — Nex' thing I knew, I was hangin' upside down in the air by me feet, two of his mates had grabbed me."

Venus' eyes widened. Hermione's hands flew to her mouth in shock.

"How did you get out of that?" Harry wondered.

"Wouldn'ta done if Olympe hadn' bin there," Hagrid admitted. "She pulled out her wand an' did some o' the fastes' spellwork I've ever seen. Ruddy marvelous. Hit the two holdin' me right in the eyes with Conjunctivitus Curses an' they dropped me straightaway — bu' we were in trouble then, 'cause we'd used magic against 'em, an' that's what Giants hate abou' wizards. We had ter leg it an' we knew there was no way we was going ter be able ter march inter camp again."

"Blimey, Hagrid," Ron let out quietly.

"So how come it's taken you so long to get home if you were only there for three days?" Hermione inquired.

"We didn' leave after three days!" Hagrid insisted, looking very outraged. "Dumbledore was relyin' on us!"

"But you've just said there was no way you could go back!"

"Not by daylight, we couldn', no. We just had ter rethink a bit. Spent a couple o' days lyin' low up in the cave an' watchin'. An' wha' we saw wasn' good."

Hermione looked a little squeamish. "Did he rip off more heads?"

"No," Hagrid said. "I wish he had."

"What d'you mean?"

"I mean we soon found out he didn' object ter all wizards — just us."

"Death Eaters?" Venus and Harry guessed at the same time, the two of them looking at each other for a moment before looking away with blushing cheeks.

"Yep," Hagrid confirmed darkly. "Couple of 'em were visitin' him ev'ry day, bringin' gifts ter the Gurg, an' he wasn' dangling them upside down."

"How d'you know they were Death Eaters?" Ron asked.

"Because I recognized one of 'em. Macnair, remember him? Bloke they sent ter kill Buckbeak? Maniac, he is. Likes killin' as much as Golgomath, no wonder they were gettin' on so well."

"So Macnair's persuaded the Giants to join You-Know-Who?" Hermione questioned desperately.

"Things just got a whole lot more complicated if he did," Venus muttered to herself.

"Hold yer Hippogriffs, I haven' finished me story yet!" Hagrid exclaimed, looking like he was enjoying himself despite not wanting to tell them anything in the first place. "Me an' Olympe talked it over an' we agreed, jus' 'cause the Gurg looked like favorin' You-Know-Who didn' mean all of 'em would. We had ter try an' persuade some o' the others, the ones who hadn' wanted Golgomath as Gurg."

"How could you tell which ones they were?" Ron inquired.

"Well, they were the ones bein' beaten to a pulp, weren' they? The ones with any sense were keepin' outta Golgomath's way, hidin' out in caves roun' the gully jus' like we were. So we decided we'd go pokin' round the caves by night an' see if we couldn' persuade a few o' them."

Ron seemed awed at that. "You went poking around dark caves looking for Giants?"

"Well, it wasn' the Giants who worried us most," Hagrid revealed. "We were more concerned abou' the Death Eaters. Dumbledore had told us before we wen' not ter tangle with 'em if we could avoid it, an' the trouble was they knew we was around — 'spect Golgomath told him abou' us. At night when the Giants were sleepin' an' we wanted ter be creepin'inter the caves, Macnair an' the other one were sneakin' round the mountains lookin' fer us. I was hard put to stop Olympe jumpin' out at them. She was rarin' ter attack 'em . . . she's somethin' when she's roused, Olympe . . . fiery, yeh know . . . 'spect it's the French in her . . ."

Hagrid cast a misty-eyed gaze into the fire. Venus raised an eyebrow. It seemed like Hagrid had a crush.

Harry cleared his throat loudly after about thirty seconds. "So what happened? Did you ever get near any of the other Giants?"

Hagrid snapped out of his trance. "What? Oh . . . oh yeah, we did. Yeah, on the third night after Karkus was killed, we crept outta the cave we'd bin hidin' in and headed back down inter the gully, keepin' our eyes skinned fer the Death Eaters. Got inside a few o' the caves, no go — then, in abou' the sixth one, we found three Giants hidin'."

"Cave must've been cramped," Ron guessed.

"Wasn' room ter swing a Kneazle."

"Didn't they attack you when they saw you?" Hermione asked.

"Probably woulda done if they'd bin in any condition, but they was badly hurt, all three o' them," Hagrid responded. "Golgomath's lot had beaten 'em unconscious; they'd woken up an' crawled inter the nearest shelter they could find. Anyway, one o' them had a bit of English an' 'e translated fer the others, an' what we had ter say didn' seem ter go down too badly. So we kep' goin' back, visitin' the wounded . . . I reckon we had abou' six or seven o' them convinced at one poin'."

"Six or seven?" Ron repeated eagerly. "Well that's not bad — are they going to come over here and start fighting You-Know-Who with us?"

"Wait," Venus interrupted slowly. "You said at one point."

Hagrid looked at her sadly. "Golgomath's lot raided the caves. The ones tha' survived didn' wan' no more ter to do with us after that."

Ron seemed disappointed. "So . . . so there aren't any Giants coming?"

Hagrid heaved a deep sigh and turned his steak again to apply the cooler side to his face. "Nope, but we did wha' we meant ter do, we gave 'em Dumbledore's message an' some o' them heard it an' I 'spect some o' them'll remember it. Jus' maybe, them that don' want ter stay around Golgomath'll move outta the mountains, an' there's gotta be a chance they'll remember Dumbledore's friendly to 'em . . . could be they'll come . . ."

Snow was now filling up the window now. Venus looked in the direction she knew the castle was in. She knew they had to tell Charlotte and Elijah Hagrid was back, both of them seemed to like him as much as Harry, Ron, and Hermione . . .

"Hagrid?" Hermione began quietly after a while.

"Mmm?" he hummed in response.

"Did you . . . was there any sign of . . . did you hear anything about your . . . your . . . mother while you were there?" Hagrid's good eye rested on her, and Hermione looked rather scared. "I'm sorry . . . I . . . forget it—"

"Dead," Hagrid stated. "Died years ago. They told me."

Venus frowned. "I know we just met, but Hagrid . . . I'm really sorry about that."

He shrugged. "No need. Can' remember her much. Wasn' a great mother."

They were silent one more. Hermione and Venus looked at Ron and Harry — it was obviously their turn to speak now.

"But you still haven't explained how you got in this state, Hagrid," Ron voiced, gesturing to Hagrid's bloody face.

"Or why you're back so late," Harry added. "Sirius says Madame Maxime got back ages ago—"

"Who attacked you?"

"I haven' bin attacked!" Hagrid replied. "I—"

There was a sudden rapping at the door. Hermione gasped, her mug slipping through her fingers and smashing on the floor. Fang yelped at the sudden noise. All five of them stared at the window beside the doorway. There was the shadow of somebody small and squat rippling across the thin curtain. Venus' eyes widened. Oh no.

"It's her!" Ron whispered.

"Get under here!" Harry instructed quickly.

He seized the Invisibility Cloak and whirled it over him and Venus. Hermione and Ron tore around the table and dove underneath the cloak. Hagrid, however, looked very confused.

"Hagrid, please hide our mugs," Venus told him quietly.

Harry then grabbed her hand and pulled her back towards him as they huddled into the corner. Venus' back was pressed up against the front of Harry, their hands still interlocked. Her heart beat fast — both from fear of Umbridge discovering them out here and from being so close to Harry.

Meanwhile, Hagrid seized Venus, Harry, and Ron's mugs and shoved them under the cushion in a basket. Fang was barking wildly while leaping up at the door. Hagrid moved him out of the way with his foot and pulled the door open. Umbridge was standing there, wearing a God awful green tweed cloak and a matching hat with earflaps. With her lips pursed, Umbridge leaned back to see Hagrid's face.

"So," Umbridge announced slowly and loudly, like she was speaking to someone who was hard of hearing. "You're Hagrid, are you?"

She didn't wait for a response. Umbridge strolled straight in, her bulging eyes rolling in every direction.

"Get away," she snapped, waving her handbag at Fang who was attempting to lick her face.

Hagrid stared at her. "Er — I don' want ter be rude, but who the ruddy hell are you?"

"My name is Dolores Umbridge."

Her eyes wept the cabin. Twice they stared directly into the corner where the four of them were standing. Venus felt the scars saying blood traitor prickle on the back of her hand. Harry squeezed the hand he was holding a little tighter.

"Dolores Umbridge?" Hagrid echoed, looking thoroughly confused. "I thought you were one o' them Ministry — don' you work with Fudge?"

"I was Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, yes," Umbridge confirmed, pacing around the cabin as she took in every detail, from the backpack against the wall to the traveling cloak. "I am now the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher—"

"Tha's brave of yeh, there's not many'd take tha' job anymore—" Hagrid stated.

"—and Hogwarts High Inquisitor," Umbridge finished, giving no sort of sign whatsoever that she had heard him.

Hagrid frowned. "Wha's that?"

"Precisely what I was going to ask," Umbridge revealed, pointing to the broken shards of china on the floor that had once been Hermione's mug.

Hagrid gave a very unhelpful glance to the corner where Venus, Harry, Ron, and Hermione were hiding. "Oh, oh, tha' was . . . was Fang. He broke a mug. So I had ter use this one instead."

He pointed to the mug he had been drinking from. One hand was still clamped over the dragon steak that was pressed to his eye. Umbridge now faced him, taking in every little detail of his appearance instead of the cabin's.

"I heard voices," Umbridge said quietly.

"I was talkin' ter Fang," Hagrid responded.

"And was he talking back to you?"

"Well . . . in a manner o' speakin'. I sometimes say Fang's near enough human—"

"There are four sets of footprints in the snow leading from the castle doors to your cabin," Umbridge revealed.

Hermione gasped. Venus, her free hand close to Hermione's, clamped it over Hermione's mouth, her eyes wide as she shook her head. Luckily, Fang was sniffing loudly at the hem of Umbridge's robes, and Umbridge herself did not appear to have heard.

"Well, I on'y jus' got back," Hagrid voiced, gesturing his enormous hand at the backpack. "Maybe someone came ter call earlier an' I missed 'em."

"There are no footsteps leading away from your cabin door," Umbridge continued.

"Well I . . . I don' know why that'd be . . ." Hagrid tugged nervously at his beard and glanced towards the corner where they stood, as if he was asking for help. "Erm . . ."

Umbridge then wheeled around and strode the length of the cabin, looking around carefully. She bent down and peered under the bed, opened Hagrid's cabinets, and even passed within two inches of where Venus, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood pressed against the wall — Harry even pulled Venus in closer, so that they were practically on top of each other now. After looking carefully inside the enormous cauldron, Umbridge wheeled around again.

"What has happened to you?" Umbridge questioned. How did you sustain those injuries?"

Hagrid hastily removed the dragon steak from his face — which was a mistake, because it now showed the black and purple bruising around his eye and the large amount of fresh and congealed blood on his face. "Oh, I . . . had a bit of an accident."

"What sort of accident?"

"I — I tripped."

"You tripped," Umbridge repeated coolly.

"Yeah, tha's right," Hagrid responded. "Over . . . over a friends broomstick. I don' fly, meself. Well, look at the size o' me, I don' reckon there's a broomstick that'd hold me. Friend o' mine breeds Abraxan Horses, I dunno if you've ever seen 'em, big beasts, winged, yeh know, I've had a bit of a ride on one o' them an' it was—"

"Where have you been?" Umbridge interjected.

"Where've I . . . ?"

"Been, yes. Term started more than two months ago. Another teacher has had to cover your classes. None of your colleagues has been able to give me any information as to your whereabouts. You left no address. Where have you been?"

Hagrid paused and stared at her for a moment, his brain obviously going into overdrive. "I — I've been away for me health."

"For your health," Umbridge repeated. Her eyes traveled over Hagrid's discolored and swollen face as dragon blood dripped gently onto his waistcoat in the silence. "I see."

"Yeah, bit o' — o' fresh air, yeh know—"

"Yes, as gamekeeper fresh air must be so difficult to come by," Umbridge said sweetly.

Hagrid's face flushed — well, the part that wasn't black or purple did. "Well — change o' scene, yeh know—"

"Mountain scenery?"

Venus squeezed Harry's hand worryingly. She knows.

"Mountains?" Hagrid echoed, obviously thinking fast. "Nope, South of France fer me. Bit o' sun an' . . . an' sea."

"Really?" Umbridge inquired. "You don't have much of a tan."

"Yeah . . . well . . . sensitive skin."

Hagrid attempted to smile. However, two of his teeth had been knocked out. Umbridge looked at him coldly, and his smile faltered.

Umbridge hoisted her handbag a little higher into the crook of her arm. "I shall, of course, be informing the Minister of your late return."

Hagrid nodded. "Righ'."

"You ought to know too that as High Inquisitor it is my unfortunate but necessary duty to inspect my fellow teachers. So I daresay we shall meet again soon enough."

She turned around sharply and marched back to the door.

"You're inspectin' us?" Hagrid asked blankly, staring after her.

"Oh yes," Umbridge confirmed softly, looking back at him with her hand resting on the door handle. "The Ministry is determined to weed out unsatisfactory teachers, Hagrid. Good night."

She left and closed the door behind her with a snap. Harry made to pull off the Invisibility Cloak, but Venus tugged on his hand.

"No," Venus whispered to him. "Wait. She might not be gone yet."

Hagrid seemed to be on the same wavelength as her. He walked across the room and pulled back the curtain about an inch.

"She's goin' back ter the castle," Hagrid told them in a low voice. "Blimey . . . inspectin' people, is she?"

"Yeah," Harry answered, pulling off the cloak but not letting go of Venus' hand for some reason. "Trelawney's on probation already . . ."

"Um . . . what sort of thing are you planning to do with us in class, Hagrid?" Hermione questioned.

"Oh, don' you worry abou' that, I've got a great load o' lessons planned," Hagrid replied enthusiastically, picking up his dragon steak and slapping it back over his eye. "I've bin keepin' a couple o' creatures saved fer yer O.W.L. year, you wait, they're somethin' really special."

"Erm . . . special in what way?"

"I'm not sayin', I don' want ter spoil the surprise."

"Look, Hagrid, Professor Umbridge won't be at all happy if you bring anything to class that's too dangerous—" Hermione admitted urgently.

"Dangerous?" Hagrid repeated, looking bemused. "Don' be silly, I wouldn' give yeh anythin' dangerous! I mean, all righ', they can look after themselves—"

"Hagrid, you've got to pass Umbridge's inspection, and to do that it would really be better if she saw you teaching us how to look after Porlocks, how to tell the difference between Knarls and hedgehogs, stuff like that!"

"But tha's not very interestin', Hermione. The stuff I've got's much more impressive, I've bin bringin' 'em on fer years, I reckon I've got the on'y domestic herd in Britain—"

"Hagrid . . . please . . ." Hermione pleaded desperately. "Umbridge is looking for any excuse to get rid of teachers she thinks are too close to Dumbledore. Please, Hagrid, teach us something dull that's bound to come up in our O.W.L. . . ."

However, Hagrid merely yawned widely and looked longingly at the bed in the corner. "Lis'en, it's bin a long day an' it's late." He patted Hermione gently on the shoulder, but her knees gave way and hit the floor with a thud. "Oh — sorry—" He pulled her back up by the neck of her robes. "Look, don' you go worryin' abou' me, I promise yeh I've got really good stuff planned fer yer lessons now I'm back. . . . now you lot had better get back up to the castle, an' don' forget ter wipe yer footprints out behind yeh! Nice meetin' yeh, Venus!"

They checked the coast was clear before leaving the cabin. The group of four walked back up to the castle through the thickening snow — Harry and Venus still holding hands, by the way — while Hermione performed the Obliteration Charm as they went to leave no trace behind.

"I dunno if you got through to him," Ron said to Hermione.

"Then I'll go back again tomorrow, maybe with Venus and Charlie," Hermione voiced determinedly. "I'll plan his lessons for him if I have to. I don't care if she throws out Trelawney but she's not taking Hagrid!"

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okay period we met hagrid bitches

also all I do these days are write and watch sam and colby videos