───── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ─────

Blair watched Harry sprint up the boys' dormitory and Hermione up the girls' dormitory. She and Ron were left in the Common Room. Blair was about to speak when her bruises started hurting again and winced.

Ron immediately walked over to her. "Are you okay, Blair? Is there anything I can do to help?"

"Help me up, will you?" Ron obliged and helped Blair up by the waist.

Blair let out a groan as she steadied herself. Then, she smiled at Ron. "It wasn't your fault, Ronnie. I chose to hit Malfoy. Just practice more. You'll get there."

Ron looked down before smiling widely at Blair. "Thanks, Blair bear." 

Though she rolled his eyes at the nickname, Blair ruffled his hair. Harry and Hermione finally arrived, and they crept through the portrait hole and covered themselves hastily in the cloak — then, moving slowly and cautiously, they proceeded down the many staircases, pausing at intervals to check the map for signs of Filch or Mrs. Norris.

The four Gryffindors crept across the entrance hall and then out into the silent, snowy grounds. Blair's heart leaped greatly when she saw little golden squares of light ahead and smoke coiling up from Hagrid's chimney. They all set off at a quick march and crunched excitedly through the thickening snow until at last they reached the wooden front door; when Harry raised his fist and knocked three times, a dog started barking frantically inside.

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

"Shoulda known!" said a gruff voice. They beamed at one another under the cloak; they could tell that Hagrid's voice was pleased. "Bin home three seconds... Out the way, Fang... Out the way, yeh dozy dog..."

The bolt was drawn back, the door creaked open, and Hagrid's head appeared in the gap. Hermione screamed. "Merlin's beard, keep it down!" said Hagrid hastily, staring wildly over their heads. "Under that cloak, are yeh? Well, get in, get in!"

"I'm sorry!" Hermione gasped, as the four of them squeezed past Hagrid into the house and pulled the cloak off themselves so he could see them. "I just — oh, Hagrid !"

"It's nuthin', it's nuthin'!" said Hagrid hastily, shutting the door behind them and hurrying to close all the curtains, but Hermione continued to gaze up at him in horror. Hagrid's hair was matted with congealed blood, and his left eye had been reduced to a puffy slit amid a mass of purple-and-black bruises. There were many cuts on his face and hands, some of them still bleeding, and he was moving gingerly, which made Blair suspect broken ribs.

It was obvious that he had only just got home; a thick black traveling cloak lay over the back of a chair and a haversack large enough to carry several small children leaned against the wall inside the door. Hagrid himself, twice the size of a normal man and three times as broad, was now limping over to the fire and placing a copper kettle over it.

"What happened to you?" Harry demanded, while Fang danced around them all, trying to lick their faces. Blair patted him, but she was still staring at Hagrid.

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

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

"I'm tellin' yeh, I'm fine," said Hagrid, straightening up and turning to beam at them all, but wincing. "Blimey, it's good ter see you four again — had good summers, did yeh?"

"Hagrid, you've been attacked!" said Blair.

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

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

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

"I'm dealin' with it, all righ'?" said Hagrid repressively. He walked across to the enormous wooden table that stood in the middle of his cabin and twitched aside a tea towel that had been lying on it. Underneath was a raw, bloody, green-tinged steak slightly larger than the average car tire.

Blair walked to Hagrid. "Let me, Hagrid. I can help."

Hagrid smiled weakly. "Thank you, Blair." Blair pointed her wand at him and closed her eyes, focusing just like she did with Draco, and to everyone's surprise, most of the cuts on Hagrid's arms and hands were healing, and Hagrid wasn't moving gingerly like before.

"When did you start healing, Blair?" Harry said in awe.

Blair shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know. I just found I could do it. Sorry, Hagrid. I can't heal the ones on your face."

Hagrid smiled widely at her. "Thank yer, Lil' B." Blair patted him on the shoulder before sitting down, suddenly feeling a lot of pain. She looked down, and her eyes widened when she saw that her hands had fresh cuts, and she felt the sudden pain in her arms and in her ribs. Blair was grateful that she was still wearing her Quidditch gear and looked at the piece of meat.

"You're not going to eat that, are you, Hagrid?" said Blair, leaning in for a closer look. "It looks poisonous."

"It's s'posed ter look like that, it's dragon meat," Hagrid said. "An' I didn' get it ter eat." He picked up the steak and slapped it over the left side of his face. Greenish blood trickled down into his beard as he gave a soft 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 asked.

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

"Did the giants beat you up, Hagrid?" asked Hermione quietly. Hagrid's fingers slipped on the dragon steak, and it slid squelchily onto his chest.

"Giants?" said Hagrid, catching the steak before it reached his belt and slapping it back over his face. "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," said Hermione apologetically.

"Oh, yeh did, did yeh?" said Hagrid, fixing her sternly with the eye that was not hidden by the steak.

"It was kind of... obvious," said Blair. Harry and Ron nodded.

Hagrid glared at them, then snorted, threw the steak onto the table again and strode back to the kettle, which was now whistling. "Never known kids like you four fer knowin' more'n yeh oughta," he muttered, splashing boiling water into three of his bucket-shaped mugs. "An' I'm not complimentin' yeh, neither. Nosy, some'd call it. Interferin'." But his beard twitched.

"So you have been to look for giants?" said Blair, grinning. Hagrid set tea in front of each of them, sat down, picked up his steak again, and slapped it back over his face.

"Yeah, all righ'," he grunted, "I have."

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

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

"Where are they?" said Harry.

"Mountains," said Hagrid unhelpfully.

"So why don't Muggles — ?"

"They do," said Hagrid darkly. "O'ny their deaths are always put down ter mountaineerin' accidents, aren' they?" He adjusted the steak a little so that it covered the worst of the bruising.

"Come on, Hagrid, tell us what you've been up to!" said Ron. "Tell us about being attacked by the giants and Blair and Harry can tell you about being attacked by the dementors —"

Hagrid choked in his mug and dropped his steak at the same time; a large quantity of spit, tea, and dragon blood was sprayed over the table as Hagrid coughed and spluttered and the steak slid, with a soft splat, onto the floor. 

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

"Didn't you know?" Hermione asked him, wide-eyed.

"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 Blair, my cousin and me, and then the Ministry of Magic expelled us —"

"WHAT?"

"— and we had to go to a hearing and everything, but tell us about the giants first." Blair said eagerly.

"You were expelled?"

"Tell us about your summer and we'll tell you about ours." 

Hagrid glared at her through his one open eye. Blair looked right back, an expression of innocent determination on her face.

"Oh, all righ'," Hagrid said in a resigned voice. He bent down and tugged the dragon steak out of Fang's mouth.

"Oh, Hagrid, don't, it's not hygien —" Hermione began, but Hagrid had already slapped the meat back over his swollen eye.

He took another fortifying gulp of tea and then said, "Well, we set off righ' after term ended —"

Hagrid proceeded to tell them about how he and Madame Maxime went to the mountains and slept in caves during their search for the giants. They were on a journey for a month because they were being watched and how they pretended that they were heading for Beauxbatons. Apparently, they had to lay off their magic because giants didn't like wizards and Voldemort too was after them. 

One night, they finally found about seventy or eighty giants, who were about twenty to twenty-five feet tall. The giants had been dying out for ages. Some were killed by wizards, but they mostly killed each other. It was the wizards' fault. They forced the giants away from the world when they weren't meant to.

The next morning, Hagrid and Madame Maxime gave the Gurg, the chief, a branch of Gubraithian fire, and the Gurg was very pleased. They were taking it slow. They had to gain the giants' trust, and it was working. Karkus, the Gurg, was interested in what they had to say. But it all went wrong one night. The giants had a fight, and there was a hed at the bottom of the lake. Karkus's head. There was a new Gurg, Golgomath, who didn't want to listen to them. They even attacked Hagrid. Luckily, Madame Maxime was there to save Hagrid. But because they used magic against the giants, they were back to square one.

They didn't give up though. They lay low for a bit, but then, there were Death Eaters, every day, bringing gifts to the Gurg, and the Death Eater, Macnair, was getting along with Golgomath. So, they started persuading the other giants, who were beaten up by Golgomath. They convinced six or seven giants... at one point. Golgomath's cronies raided the caves and killed the others. The ones that survived backed out again. There weren't any giants coming, but they at least gave Dumbledore's message... There was still hope.

Snow was filling up the window now. Blair was feeling the pain once more. She blinked her eyes a couple of times to keep herself focused.

"Hagrid?" said Hermione quietly after a while.

"Mmm?"

"Did you... was there any sign of... did you hear anything about your... your... mother while you were there?" Hagrid's unobscured eye rested upon her, and Hermione looked rather scared.

"I'm sorry... I... forget it —"

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

"Oh... I'm... I'm really sorry," said Hermione in a very small voice.

Hagrid shrugged his massive shoulders. "No need," he said shortly. "Can' remember her much. Wasn' a great mother." They were silent again. Hermione glanced nervously at Blair, Harry and Ron, plainly wanting them to speak.

"But you still haven't explained how you got in this state, Hagrid," Blair said, gesturing toward Hagrid's bloodstained face.

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

"Who attacked you?" said Ron.

"I haven' bin attacked!" said Hagrid emphatically. "I —" But the rest of his words were drowned in a sudden outbreak of rapping on the door. Hermione gasped; her mug slipped through her fingers and smashed on the floor; Fang yelped. All five of them stared at the window beside the doorway. The shadow of somebody small and squat rippled across the thin curtain.

"It's her!" Ron whispered.

"Get under here!" Harry said quickly; the four of them dived beneath the cloak and backed away into a corner. Blair bit the inside of her cheek to prevent her groans of pain from coming out as Harry and Ron accidentally elbowed her in the stomach.

"Hagrid, hide our mugs!" Blair whispered urgently. Hagrid seized Blair's, Harry's and Ron's mugs and shoved them under the cushion in Fang's basket. Fang was now leaping up at the door; Hagrid pushed him out of the way with his foot and pulled it open.

Professor Umbridge was standing in the doorway wearing her green tweed cloak and a matching hat with earflaps. Lips pursed, she leaned back so as to see Hagrid's face; she barely reached his navel.

"So," she said slowly and loudly, as though speaking to somebody deaf. "You're Hagrid, are you?" Without waiting for an answer she strolled into the room, her bulging eyes rolling in every direction.

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

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

"My name is Dolores Umbridge." Her eyes were sweeping the cabin. Twice they stared directly into the corner where Blair stood, sandwiched between Harry and Hermione with Ron beside Harry. Blair's cheeks were slightly flushed from the small distance between her and Hermione.

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

"I was Senior Undersecretary to the Minister, yes," said Umbridge, now pacing around the cabin, taking in every tiny detail within, from the haversack against the wall to the abandoned traveling cloak. "I am now the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher —"

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

"— and Hogwarts High Inquisitor," said Umbridge, giving no sign that she had heard him.

"Wha's that?" said Hagrid, frowning.

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

"Oh," said Hagrid, with a most unhelpful glance toward the corner where Blair, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood hidden, "oh, tha' was... was Fang. He broke a mug. So I had ter use this one instead."

Hagrid pointed to the mug from which he had been drinking, one hand still clamped over the dragon steak pressed to his eye. Umbridge stood facing him now, taking in every detail of his appearance instead of the cabin's.

"I heard voices," she said quietly.

"I was talkin' ter Fang," said Hagrid stoutly.

"And was he talking back to you?"

"Well... in a manner o' speakin'," said Hagrid, looking uncomfortable. "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," said Umbridge sleekly. Hermione gasped; Blair clapped a hand over her mouth. Luckily, Fang was sniffing loudly around the hem of Professor Umbridge's robes, and she did not appear to have heard.

"Well, I on'y jus' got back," said Hagrid, waving an enormous hand at the haversack. "Maybe someone came ter call earlier an' I missed 'em.

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

"Well I... I don' know why that'd be..." said Hagrid, tugging nervously at his beard and again glancing toward the corner where Blair, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood, as though asking for help. "Erm..."

Umbridge wheeled around and strode the length of the cabin, looking around carefully. She bent and peered under the bed. She opened Hagrid's cupboards. She passed within two inches of where Blair, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood pressed against the wall; Blair blinked her eyes to keep herself conscious, feeling the pain even more now.

After looking carefully inside the enormous cauldron Hagrid used for cooking she wheeled around again and said, "What has happened to you? How did you sustain those injuries?"

Hagrid hastily removed the dragon steak from his face, the black-and-purple bruising all around his eye was now clearly visible, not to mention the large amount of fresh and congealed blood on his face. "Oh, I... had a bit of an accident," he said lamely.

"What sort of accident?"

"I-I tripped."

"You tripped," she repeated coolly.

"Yeah, tha's right. 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?" asked Umbridge, cutting coolly through Hagrid's babbling.

"Where've I... ?"

"Been, yes," she said. "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?" There was a pause in which Hagrid stared at her with his newly uncovered eye.

"I — I've been away for me health," he said.

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

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

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

The small patch of Hagrid's face that was not black or purple flushed. "Well — change o' scene, yeh know —"

"Mountain scenery?" said Umbridge swiftly. She knows, Blair thought desperately while exchanging glances with Harry.

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

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

"Yeah... well... sensitive skin," said Hagrid, attempting an ingratiating smile. Blair noticed that two of his teeth had been knocked out. Umbridge looked at him coldly; his smile faltered. Then she hoisted her handbag a little higher into the crook of her arm and said, "I shall, of course, be informing the Minister of your late return."

"Righ'," said Hagrid, nodding.

"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 sharply and marched back to the door.

"You're inspectin' us?" Hagrid echoed blankly, looking after her.

"Oh yes," said Umbridge softly, looking back at him with her hand on the door handle. "The Ministry is determined to weed out unsatisfactory teachers, Hagrid. Good night." She left, closing the door behind her with a snap. Harry made to pull off the Invisibility Cloak but Hermione seized his wrist.

"Not yet," she breathed in his ear. "She might not be gone yet."

Hagrid seemed to be thinking the same way; he stumped across the room and pulled back the curtain an inch or so. "She's goin' back ter the castle," he said in a low voice. "Blimey... inspectin' people, is she?"

"Yeah," said Blair, pulling the cloak off. "Trelawney's on probation already..."

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

"Oh, don' you worry abou' that, I've got a great load o' lessons planned," said Hagrid enthusiastically, scooping up his dragon steak from the table and slapping it over his eye again. "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?" asked Hermione tentatively.

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

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

"Dangerous?" said Hagrid, looking genially 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!" said Hermione earnestly.

"But tha's not very interestin', Hermione," said Hagrid. "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..." said Hermione, a note of real desperation in her voice. "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..."

But Hagrid merely yawned widely and cast a one-eyed look of longing toward the vast bed in the corner. "Lis'en, it's bin a long day an' it's late," he said, patting Hermione gently on the shoulder, so that 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! Thanks again, Little B."

"I dunno if you got through to him," said Ron a short while later when, having checked that the coast was clear, they walked back up to the castle through the thickening snow, leaving no trace behind them due to the Obliteration Charm Hermione was performing as they went.

"Then I'll go back again tomorrow," said Hermione 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!"

Blair nodded eagerly. "I'll help you, Mione." Then, she stopped as they arrived at the castle. Harry, Ron and Hermione looked at her questioningly.

"Umm... I forgot. Dobby wanted to tell me something. It might be important. I'll catch up with you guys later," said Blair, quickly walking away and hoping that they believed her lie. She looked back after a few moments and let out a sigh of relief when they disappeared.

Blair quickly went through the shortcuts and to the kitchen, now holding her sides that were aching so bad. She tickled the pear and stumbled in. Her eyes roamed over the house-elves and she smiled weakly when she found him. "D-Dobby."

Dobby smiled widely. "Miss Blair, you're here! What can I do for you, miss?" Blair was about to answer when her knees buckled. Dobby gasped and ran over to her. A few house-elves came as well.

"Miss Blair! Help me, let's bring her to the chair." The house-elves followed Dobby's command and with their joint effort, managed to set down Blair in the chair.

Blair smiled slightly at Dobby. "T-Thanks, Dobby. I think I need your help again."

"Yes, Blair Wood, miss! Whatever we can do." Dobby said.

Blair let out a shaky breath. "Can you patch up my wounds? And don't tell anybody about this. Please, Dobby." Dobby looked clearly hesitant at her last request but agreed anyway. He and a few house-elves came and gently lifted Blair's clothes. They all gasped at the sight of her arms, her hands, her lower torso and her back. There were nasty cuts and bruises, but without another word, they started healing her.

Blair was relieved when she felt the pain lifting. "T-Thanks, Dobby. And to you all." The house-elves smiled at her and continued working on Blair.

Dobby was still looking worriedly at Blair. "What happened to you, Miss?"

Blair shrugged and closed her eyes. "I don't know, Dobby. That's what I need to find out as well."

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Blair pushed her new discovery to the back of her mind and did her homework with Harry and Ron while Hermione went to Hagrid's hut to try to help him plan his lessons. That didn't work well since Hagrid disagreed, and his mind was set on the lessons he had prepared. If this was any other lesson and Umbridge wouldn't be suspecting, Blair would have been all for it, but this was Umbridge... and who knows what she would do to Hagrid?

Tuesday came, and it was time for Hagrid's lesson. Blair had started her week of detentions with Umbridge the night before, but luckily, Hermione had some Murtlap essence ready, and she took care of Blair's scarred hand the whole night. Blair wasn't just worried about Umbridge, she was also worried about Malfoy and his cronies. She didn't talk to the Slytherin even if he tried talking to her at the Black Lake yesterday.

Blair frowned when she saw Hagrid's face was now green and yellow and the cuts on his face were still bleeding. Blair could not understand. Who or what attacked Hagrid? Why wasn't he healing yet? As though to complete the ominous picture, Hagrid was carrying what looked like half a dead cow over his shoulder.

"We're workin' in here today!" Hagrid called happily to the approaching students, jerking his head back at the dark trees behind him. "Bit more sheltered! Anyway, they prefer the dark..."

"What prefers the dark?" Blair heard Malfoy say sharply to Crabbe and Goyle, a trace of panic in his voice. "What did he say prefers the dark — did you hear?" Blair and Harry exchanged glances and chuckled lowly. After the Quidditch match, anything that caused Malfoy discomfort was all right with them.

"Ready?" said Hagrid happily, 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?" said Malfoy, the panic in his voice even more pronounced now. "Only it wouldn't be the first time you'd brought wild stuff to class, would it?"

"'Course they're trained," said Hagrid, scowling and hoisting the dead cow a little higher on his shoulder.

"So what happened to your face, then?" demanded Malfoy.

"Mind yer own business!" said Hagrid, angrily. "Now if yeh've finished askin' stupid questions, follow me!" He turned and strode straight into the forest. Nobody seemed much disposed to follow. Blair glanced at Harry, Ron and Hermione, who sighed but nodded, and the four of them set off after Hagrid, leading the rest of the class.

They walked for about ten minutes until they reached a place where the trees stood so closely together that it was as dark as twilight and there was no snow on the ground at all. Hagrid deposited his half a cow with a grunt on the ground, stepped back, and turned to face his class again, most of whom were creeping toward him from tree to tree, peering around nervously as though expecting to be set upon at any moment.

"Gather roun', gather roun'," said Hagrid encouragingly. "Now, they'll be attracted by the smell o' the meat but I'm goin' ter give 'em a call anyway, 'cause they'll like ter know it's me..."

He turned, shook his shaggy head to get the hair out of his face, and gave an odd, shrieking cry that echoed through the dark trees like the call of some monstrous bird. Nobody laughed; most of them looked too scared to make a sound. Hagrid gave the shrieking cry again.

A minute passed in which the class continued to peer nervously over their shoulders and around trees for a first glimpse of whatever it was that was coming. And then, as Hagrid shook his hair back for a third time and expanded his enormous chest, Harry nudged Blair and pointed into the black space between two gnarled yew trees.

A pair of blank, white, shining eyes were growing larger through the gloom and a moment later the dragonish face, neck, and then skeletal body of a great, black, winged horse emerged from the darkness. It looked around at the class for a few seconds, swishing its long black tail, then bowed its head and began to tear flesh from the dead cow with its pointed fangs. Blair let out a sigh of relief. They were real. Hagrid knew about them too. She nudged Ron and looked at him eagerly.

Ron was still staring around into the trees and after a few seconds he whispered, "Why doesn't Hagrid call again?" Most of the rest of the class were wearing expressions as confused and nervously expectant as Ron's and were still gazing everywhere but at the horse standing feet from them.

There were only two other people who seemed to be able to see them: a stringy Slytherin boy standing just behind Goyle was watching the horse eating with an expression of great distaste on his face, and Neville, whose eyes were following the swishing progress of the long black tail.

"Oh, an' here comes another one!" said Hagrid proudly, as a second black horse appeared out of the dark trees, folded its leathery wings closer to its body, and dipped its head to gorge on the meat. "Now... put yer hands up, who can see 'em?"

Blair raised her hand and so did Harry. Hagrid nodded at them. "Yeah... yeah, I knew you'd be able ter, Harry, Lil' B," he said seriously. "An' you too, Neville, eh? An' —"

"Excuse me," said Malfoy in a sneering voice, "but what exactly are we supposed to be seeing?" For answer, Hagrid pointed at the cow carcass on the ground. The whole class stared at it for a few seconds, then several people gasped and Parvati squealed. Blair understood why: Bits of flesh stripping themselves away from the bones and vanishing into thin air had to look very odd indeed.

"What's doing it?" Parvati demanded in a terrified voice, retreating behind the nearest tree. "What's eating it?"

"Thestrals," said Hagrid proudly and Hermione gave a soft "oh!" of comprehension at Blair's shoulder. "Hogwarts has got a whole herd of 'em in here. Now, who knows — ?"

"But they're really, really unlucky!" interrupted Parvati, looking alarmed. "They're supposed to bring all sorts of horrible misfortune on people who see them. Professor Trelawney told me once —"

"No, no, no," said Hagrid, chuckling, "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 —"

Two more horses came quietly out of the trees, one of them passing very close to Parvati, who shivered and pressed herself closer to the tree, saying, "I think I felt something, I think it's near me!"

"Don' worry, it won' hurt yeh," said Hagrid patiently. "Righ', now, who can tell me why some o' you can see them an' some can't?" Hermione raised her hand.

"Go on then," said Hagrid, beaming at her.

"The only people who can see thestrals," she said, "are people who have seen death." It dawned upon Blair. She looked at Harry and nodded sadly. They saw Blake and Olivia die in front of them. That was why they could see the Thestrals.

"Tha's exactly right," said Hagrid solemnly, "ten points ter Gryffindor. Now, thestrals —"

"Hem, hem." Professor Umbridge had arrived. She was standing a few feet away from Blair, wearing her green hat and cloak again, her clipboard at the ready. Hagrid, who had never heard Umbridge's fake cough before, was gazing in some concern at the closest thestral, evidently under the impression that it had made the sound.

"Hem, hem."

"Oh hello!" Hagrid said, smiling, having located the source of the noise.

"You received the note I sent to your cabin this morning?" said Umbridge, in the same loud, slow voice she had used with him earlier, as though she was addressing somebody both foreign and very slow. "Telling you that I would be inspecting your lesson?"

"Oh yeah," said Hagrid brightly. "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?" said Umbridge loudly, cupping her hand around her ear and frowning. "What did you say?"

Hagrid looked a little confused. "Er — thestrals!" he said loudly. "Big — er — winged horses, yeh know!" He flapped his gigantic arms hopefully.

Professor Umbridge raised her eyebrows at him and muttered as she made a note on her clipboard, " 'has... to... resort... to... crude... sign... language...' " Blair's eyes flashed. What the hell was this woman on about?

"Well... anyway..." said Hagrid, 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. Draco Malfoy looked as though Christmas had come a month early; Hermione, on the other hand, had turned scarlet with suppressed rage. Blair slipped a hand into hers and squeezed her hand lightly to calm her down. Hermione took a deep breath and squeezed Blair's hand back.

"Oh yeah," said Hagrid, throwing an uneasy glance at Umbridge's clipboard, but plowing on valiantly. "Yeah, I was gonna tell yeh how come we got a herd. Yeah, so, we started off with a male an' five females. This one," he patted the first horse to have appeared, "name o' Tenebrus, he's my special favorite, firs' one born here in the forest —"

"Are you aware," Umbridge said loudly, interrupting him, "that the Ministry of Magic has classified thestrals as 'dangerous'?"

Blair's heart sank like a stone, but Hagrid merely chuckled. "Thestrals aren' dangerous! All righ, they might take a bite outta you if yeh really annoy them —"

"'Shows... signs... of... pleasure... at... idea... of... violence... ' " muttered Umbridge, scribbling on her clipboard again.

"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?"

Umbridge did not answer; she finished writing her last note, then looked up at Hagrid and said, again very loudly and slowly, "Please continue teaching as usual. I am going to walk" — she mimed walking — Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson were having silent fits of laughter — "among the students" — she pointed around at individual members of the class — "and ask them questions." She pointed at her mouth to indicate talking.

Hagrid stared at her, clearly at a complete loss to understand why she was acting as though he did not understand normal English. Hermione had tears of fury in her eyes now. "You hag, you evil hag!" she whispered, as Umbridge walked toward Pansy Parkinson. "I know what you're doing, you awful, twisted, vicious —"

"Erm... anyway," said Hagrid, clearly struggling to regain the flow of his lesson, "so — thestrals. Yeah. Well, there's loads o' good stuff abou' them..."

"Do you find," said Professor Umbridge in a ringing voice to Pansy Parkinson, "that you are able to understand Professor Hagrid when he talks?"

Just like Hermione, Pansy had tears in her eyes, but these were tears of laughter; indeed, her answer was almost incoherent because she was trying to suppress her giggles. "No... because... well... it sounds ... like grunting a lot of the time..."

Umbridge scribbled on her clipboard. The few unbruised bits of Hagrid's face flushed, but he tried to act as though he had not heard Pansy's answer. Blair was getting furious now as well. "Er... yeah... good stuff abou' thestrals. Well, once they're tamed, like this lot, yeh'll never be lost again. 'Mazin' senses o' direction, jus' tell 'em where yeh want ter go —"

"Assuming they can understand you, of course," said Malfoy loudly, and Pansy Parkinson collapsed in a fit of renewed giggles. Professor Umbridge smiled indulgently at them.

"Shut up, Mallory!" Blair glared at the pair of them. It all went silent as Professor Umbridge turned to Blair with flashing eyes. Hermione whispered to Blair to keep herself quiet, but Blair wasn't listening.

"Ms. Wood, I think another detention would teach you to hold your tongue." She smiled at Blair viciously.

Blair rolled her eyes, and Umbridge's face was now stone cold as she walked towards Blair and they were face to face. "I saw that, Ms. Wood. Another detention should do it. Now answer me properly."

"Yes."

"Yes, Professor Umbridge."

Blair was about to retort back, but she saw the pleading look on Hermione's face and sighed. "Yes, Professor Umbridge."

Professor Umbridge smiled her toadlike smile then turned to Neville. "You can see the thestrals, Longbottom, can you?" she said. Neville nodded.

"Whom did you see die?" she asked, her tone indifferent.

"My... my grandad," said Neville.

"And what do you think of them?" she said, waving her stubby hand at the horses, who by now had stripped a great deal of the carcass down to bone.

"Erm," said Neville nervously, with a glance at Hagrid. "Well, they're... er... okay..."

" 'Students... are... too... intimidated... to... admit... they ... are... frightened...' " muttered Umbridge, making another note on her clipboard.

"No!" said Neville, looking upset, "no, I'm not scared of them — !"

"It's quite all right," said Umbridge, patting Neville on the shoulder with what she evidently intended to be an understanding smile, though it looked more like a leer to Blair. Blair was feeling her temper rise so fast. The toad would even dare use one of her friends to discredit Hagrid?

"Well, Hagrid," she turned to look up at him again, speaking once more in that loud, slow voice, "I think I've got enough to be getting along with... You will receive" — she mimed taking something from the air in front of her — "the results of your inspection" — she pointed at the clipboard — "in ten days' time."

She held up ten stubby little fingers, then, her smile wider and more toadlike than ever before beneath her green hat, she bustled from their midst, leaving Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson in fits of laughter, Hermione actually shaking with fury, and Neville looking confused and upset.

"That foul, lying, twisting old gargoyle!" stormed Hermione half an hour later, as they made their way back up to the castle through the channels they had made earlier in the snow. "You see what she's up to? It's her thing about half-breeds all over again — she's trying to make out Hagrid's some kind of dim-witted troll, just because he had a giantess for a mother — and oh, it's not fair, that really wasn't a bad lesson at all — I mean, all right, if it had been Blast-Ended Skrewts again, but thestrals are fine — in fact, for Hagrid, they're really good!"

Then, she turned her glare to Blair. "And you! Aren't you tired of seeing your hand cut over and over again? Do you think it's fun to have those stupid words etched into your skin? Don't you think that we hate seeing you hurt like that?" Blair didn't answer and merely looked down.

"Umbridge said they're dangerous," said Ron, taking the attention away from Blair.

"Well, it's like Hagrid said, they can look after themselves," said Hermione impatiently, "and I suppose a teacher like Grubbly-Plank wouldn't usually show them to us before N.E.W.T. level, but, well, they are very interesting, aren't they? The way some people can see them and some can't! I wish I could."

"Do you?" Harry asked her quietly.

She looked horrorstruck. "Oh Harry, Blair — I'm sorry — no, of course I don't — that was a really stupid thing to say —"

"It's okay," Harry said quickly, "don't worry..."

"I'm surprised so many people could see them," said Ron. "Four in a class —"

"Yeah, Weasley, we were just wondering," said a malicious voice nearby. Unheard by any of them in the muffling snow, Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle were walking along right behind them. "D'you reckon if you saw someone snuff it you'd be able to see the Quaffle better?"

He, Crabbe, and Goyle roared with laughter as they pushed past on their way to the castle and then broke into a chorus of "Weasley Is Our King." Ron's ears turned scarlet.

"Ignore them, just ignore them," intoned Hermione, pulling the fuming Blair away.

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