Grawp

The story of Fred and George's flight to freedom was retold so often over the next few days that the girls could tell it would soon become the stuff of Hogwart's legend: within a week, even those who had been eye-witnesses were half-convinced they had seen the twins dive-bomb Umbridge on their brooms and pelt her with Dungbombs before zooming out of the doors. In the immediate aftermath of their departure there was a great wave of talk about copying them. The trio frequently heard students saying things like, 'Honestly, some days I just feel like jumping on my broom and leaving this place,' or maybe: 'One more lesson like that and I might just do a Weasley.' 

Fred and George had made sure nobody was likely to forget them too soon. For one thing, they had not left instructions on how to remove the swamp that now filled the corridor on the fifth floor of the east wing. Umbridge and Filch had been observed trying different means of removing it but without success. Eventually, the area was roped off and Filch, gnashing his teeth furiously, was given the task of punting students across it to their classrooms. The trio was certain that teachers like Mcgonagall or Flitwick could have removed the swamp in an instant but, just as in the case of Fred and George's Wildfire Whiz-bangs, they seemed to prefer to watch Umbridge struggle. To add to Umbridge’s anger, she had still not found a way to expel Albert. Then there were the two large broom-shaped holes in Umbridge's office door, through which Fred and George's broomsticks had smashed to rejoin their masters. Umbridge had found a way to protect her office from people entering, however, her troubles were far from over. Inspired by Fred and George's example, a great number of students were now vying for the newly vacant positions of Troublemakers-in-Chief. In spite of the new door, somebody managed to slip a hairy-snouted Niffler into Umbridge's office, which promptly tore the place apart in its search for shiny objects, leapt on Umbridge when she entered and tried to eat the rings off her stubby fingers. Dungbombs and Stink Pellets were dropped so frequently in the corridors that it became the new fashion for students to perform Bubble-Head Charms on themselves before leaving lessons, which ensured them a supply of fresh air, even though it gave them all the peculiar appearance of wearing upside-down goldfish bowls on their heads. Filch prowled the corridors with a horsewhip ready in his hands, desperate to catch troublemakers, but the problem was that there were now so many of them he never knew which way to turn. The Inquisitorial Squad was attempting to help him, but odd things kept happening to its members. Warrington of the Slytherin Quidditch team reported to the hospital wing with a horrible skin complaint that made him look as though he had been coated in cornflakes; Pansy Parkinson, to the girl’s delight, missed all her lessons the following day as she had sprouted antlers. But no one could compete with that master of chaos, Peeves, who seemed to have taken Fred's parting words deeply to heart. Cackling madly, he soared through the school, upending tables, bursting out of blackboards, toppling statues and vases; twice he shut Mrs. Norris inside a suit of armour, from which she was rescued, yowling loudly, by the furious caretaker. Peeves smashed lanterns and snuffed out candles, juggled burning torches over the heads of screaming students, caused neatly stacked piles of parchment to topple into fires or out of windows; flooded the second floor when he pulled off all the taps in the bathrooms, dropped a bag of tarantulas in the middle of the Great Hall during breakfast and, whenever he fancied a break, spent hours at a time floating along after Umbridge and blowing loud raspberries every time she spoke. None of the staff but Filch seemed to be stirring themselves to help her. Indeed, a week after Fred and George's departure, the trio and Albert witnessed Professor McGonagall walking right past Peeves, who was determinedly loosening a crystal chandelier, and could have sworn they heard her tell the poltergeist out of the corner of her mouth, 'It unscrews the other way.'

The first match in May was Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff. Excitement had found its way amongst the students once again. The Slytherins weren’t engaging in any action in the corridors when teachers weren’t in sight, though one or two tried to jinx Katie Bell, a Gryffindor sixth-year chaser, in the Divination corridor. There were strange rumours soon reaching all ears of Hogwarts, teachers included. 

‘Did you hear Harry Potter and Fred and George Weasley got banned from playing Quidditch before the holiday?’ a fourth-year Hufflepuff girl spoke to her friend, who nodded. 

‘Umbridge banned them!’ her friend replied. ‘Gryffindor lost the best Seeker and best Beater twins! Dang, I feel bad for them, considering we are playing against them today.’ 

‘Harry and the Weasley twins got banned from playing Quidditch by the old hag?’ Isabell yelled. 

‘Banned forever,’ Olivia corrected her, making Isabell stare at her with a shocked expression on her face. ‘What? They were banned a long time ago anyways. Wouldn’t you expect Umbridge to do that?’

Isabell didn’t reply, too shocked to do so. It was finally time for the match between the Lion and the Badger. The weather was chilly at Hogwarts, and they wore their blue gloves and scarf as they marched towards the Quidditch Pitch. It was as though they had entered another world, a world full of icy and frozen surroundings. The wind whipped their faces, which turned pale in reaction. The trees in the Forbidden Forest were groaning and creaking from the blasting wind like old rocking chairs. Students huddled next to each other on the cold seats in their stands. Gryffindor cheered loudly, the cold winter unable to stop their energy. The Gryffindor team came as red dots as they came down to the pitch, their brooms either held next to them or leaning against their shoulders. The trio were cheering for Gryffindor, mostly because Ronald Weasley was in the team. The Slytherins looked confident in themselves though, and they were rooting for Hufflepuff, obviously.

‘I bet you the Weasel will never block a ball with his pathetic broom!’ Draco said from the Slytherin stand. ‘And if he loses for good old Gryffindor, Slytherin gets to play Hufflepuff!’

Albert had seated himself in the commentator seat, Professor McGonagall sitting next to him. 

‘Yet another match is taking place!’ Albert’s voice boomed through speakers. ‘Gryffindor versus Hufflepuff-’ 

Someone large shoved past students and sat next to Olivia, who shoved herself towards Isabell. Olivia looked up at the large man, his beady black eyes hidden under hideous damaged pile of dark brown hair and beard-

‘Follow me,’ Hagrid grumbled as he got up from the seat, which creaked in relief. 

Amelia, Oliva and Isabell looked at each other, dumbstruck. They got up and followed Hagrid out of the Quidditch pitch. Neither girl said anything, until they saw that Hagrid was leading them to-

‘The Forbidden Forest?’ Isabell said, looking at Hagrid in disbelief. 

‘Scared?’ Amelia teased. 

‘Me? Never,’ Isabell scoffed. ‘But why are we going in there?’ 

Hagrid didn’t reply, his boots scrunching snow as they walked ahead. The girls scurried behind him, the wind caressing their cold cheeks. They heard chanting from the pitch:

‘Weasley cannot save a thing, 

He cannot block a single ring, 

That's why Slytherins all sing: 

Weasley is our King. 

Weasley was born in a bin 

He always lets the Quaffle in 

Weasley will make sure we win 

Weasley is our King. 

Weasley is our King, 

Weasley is our King,

He always lets the Quaffle in 

Weasley is our King.

He’ll make the Lion lose!

And that’s why we hear their boos!

And the Slytherins will sing:

Weasley is our king!

Weasley is our king!

‘Must not be going too good for Ron and Gryffindor,’ Amelia sadly said as the chanting of the Slytherins continued loudly in behind them. 

‘AND HUFFLEPUFF’S CHASER, YELNATS, SCORED! THIRTY TO ZERO FOR HUFFLEPUFF!’ the girls heard Albert yell. 

They felt pity for Gryffindor then remembered that they were supposed to follow Hagrid, who was half a mile away from them. They ran towards him and when he looked back, they pretended to be normal, as though they had never run half a mile in thirty seconds. They walked into the forest, immediately welcomed with squawks and screeches. Dark tree trunks, shadows, overhanging limbs across the path seen at the last second, clumps of bushes, barely visible black trails snaking through the undergrowth, bare sunlight through a lattice of leaves, pale blue sky and fluffy white clouds seen in glimpses through tree breaks, tall shadowed pines stretching up like long monster teeth into the sky. Wind wildly slipping through leaves, cracking undergrowth within each step the trio and Hagrid took, creaking tree trunks, the flutter of wings unseen, snapping twigs, grass and weed sliding against wobbly legs, unicorn calls, snarls, padding feet along a trail. Frozen moss shined as the sunlight blushed at it. They continued to walk deeper into the woods, and the deeper they went, the more dark and murky it was. 

‘H-Hagrid… where… are… we… going?’ Amelia said, gulping for breath after each word. 

‘You’ll see!’ Hagrid said, suddenly cheerful and bright. 

‘You’re not going to show us something like… that huge spider… are you?’ Olivia asked, shuddering at the thought. 

‘Who, Aragog? Well, somethin’ as good as him!’ 

The trio gulped. They had encountered a huge arachnid in their second year when the pertification attacks happened. They had gone into the forest and saw in front of them the ruler of all spiders in the Forbidden Forest-

Hagrid pointed at winged horses with a skeletal body, a face with reptilian features, and wide, leathery wings that almost resembled a bat’s. 

Amelia looked at the Thestrals, which reminded her of her mother… Amelia hid a sniffle and they walked ahead. The path was becoming increasingly overgrown and the trees grew so closely together as they walked further and further into the Forest that it was as dark as dusk. They were soon a long way past the clearing where Hagrid had shown them the Thestrals, but they felt no sense of unease until Hagrid stepped unexpectedly off the path and began wending his way in and out of trees towards the dark heart of the Forest. 'Hagrid!' said Isabell, fighting his way through thickly knotted brambles, over which Hagrid had stepped with ease, and remembering very vividly what had happened to him on the other occasion he had stepped off the Forest path. 'Where are we going?'

'Bit further,' replied Hagrid over his shoulder. 'C'mon, girls... we need ter keep together now.'

It was a great struggle to keep up with Hagrid, what with branches and thickets of thorn through which Hagrid marched as easily as if they were cobwebs, but which snagged Amelia, Isabell and Olivia’s robes, frequently entangling them so severely that they had to stop for minutes at a time to free themselves. All their arms and legs were soon covered in small cuts and scratches. They were so deep in the Forest now that sometimes all Harry could see of Hagrid in the gloom was a massive dark shape ahead of him.

Any sound seemed threatening in the muffled silence.

The breaking of a twig echoed loudly and the tiniest rustle of movement, even though it might have been made by an innocent sparrow, caused the trio to peer through the gloom for a culprit. 

'Hagrid, would it be all right if we lit our wands?' said Olivia quietly.

'Er ... all righ',' Hagrid whispered back. 'In fact-'

He stopped suddenly and turned around; Amelia walked right into him and was knocked over backwards. Isabell caught her just before she hit the Forest floor.

'Maybe we bes' jus' stop fer a momen', so I can... fill yeh in,' said Hagrid. 'Before we ge' there, like.'

'Good!' said Amelia, as Isabell set her back on her feet.

The girls murmured 'Lumos!’  and their wand-tips ignited with sparks.

Hagrid's face swam through the gloom by the light of the three wavering beams and they saw again that he looked nervous and sad.

‘Hagrid, we know something’s bothering you,’ Olivia said, patting his elbow as that was all she could reach.

‘Nothin’, nothin’,’ Hagrid said in his hoarse voice, though the girls weren’t convinced. 

‘Come on,’ Olivia said slowly. 

'Righ',' said Hagrid.

'Well... see... the thing is...'

He took a great breath.

'Well, there's a good chance I'm goin' ter be gettin' the sack any day now,' he said.

The trio looked at each other, then back at him.

'What makes you think-'

'Umbridge reckons it was me that put that Niffler in her office. Yeh know, the one that was put right after the holiday.'

'And was it?' blurted Isabell, before she could stop herself.

'No, it ruddy well wasn'!’ said Hagrid indignantly, and Amelia and Olivia glared at Isabell, who shrugged. 'Only anythin' ter do with magical creatures an' she thinks it's got somethin' ter do with me. Yeh know she's bin lookin' fer a chance ter get rid of me ever since I got back. I don' wan' ter go, o' course, but if it wasn' fer... well... the special circumstances I'm abou' ter explain to yeh, I'd leave righ' now, before she's go' the chance ter do it in front o' the whole school, like she did with Trelawney in March.'

The girls made noises of protest, but Hagrid overrode them with a wave of one of his enormous hands.

'It's not the end o' the world, I'll be able ter help Dumbledore once I'm outta here, I can be useful ter the Order. An’ you lot'll have Grubbly-Plank, yeh'll-yeh'll get through yer exams fine...'

His voice trembled and broke.

'Don' worry abou' me,' he said hastily, as Olivia made to pat his arm.

He pulled his enormous spotted handkerchief from the pocket of his waistcoat and mopped his eyes with it.

'Look, I wouldn' be tellin' yer this at all if I didn' have ter. See, if I go... well, I can' leave withou'... withou' tellin' someone... because I'll—I'll need yeh three ter help me. An' Albert, if he's willin'.'

'Of course we'll help you,' said Olivia at once.

'What do you want us to do?' Amelia asked eagerly.

Hagrid gave a great sniff and patted Amelia on the shoulder with such force Amelia was knocked sideways into a tree.

'I knew yeh'd say yes,' said Hagrid into his handkerchief. 'But I won'... never... forget... well... c'mon... jus' a little bit further through here... watch yerselves, now, there's nettles...'

They walked on in silence for another fifteen minutes;

Harry had opened his mouth to ask how much further they had to go when Hagrid threw out his right arm to signal that they should stop.

'Really easy,' he said softly. 'Very quiet, now...'

They crept forwards and the three girls saw that they were facing a large, smooth mound of earth nearly as tall as Hagrid that he thought, with a jolt of dread, was sure to be the lair of some enormous animal.

Trees had been ripped up at the roots all around the mound, so that it stood on a bare patch of ground surrounded by heaps of trunks and boughs that formed a kind of fence or barricade, behind which Amelia, Olivia, Isabell and Hagrid now stood.

'Sleepin',' breathed Hagrid.

Sure enough, the nervous trio could hear a distant, rhythmic rumbling that sounded like a pair of enormous lungs at work.

Amelia glanced sideways at Olivia, who was gazing at the mound with her mouth slightly open.

She looked utterly terrified.

'Hagrid,' she said in a whisper barely audible over the sound of the sleeping creature. 'Who is he?'

Isabell found this an odd question... 

'What is it?' was the one she had been planning on asking.

'Hagrid, you told us-' said Olivia, her wand now shaking in her hand. 'You told us none of them wanted to come!'

Amelia looked from her to Hagrid and then, as realisation hit her, she looked back at the mound with a small gasp of horror.

The great mound of earth, on which the three girls and Hagrid could easily have stood, was moving slowly up and down in time with the deep, grunting breathing.

It was not a mound at all. It was the curved back of what was clearly-

'Well, no. He didn' want ter come,' said Hagrid, sounding desperate. 'But I had ter bring him, Olivia, I had ter!'

'But why?' asked Olivia, who sounded as though she wanted to cry. 'Why-what-oh, Hagrid!'

'I knew if I jus' got him back,' said Hagrid, sounding close to tears himself, 'An'-an' taught him a few manners, I'd be able ter take him outside an' show everyone he's harmless!'

'Harmless!' Isabell yelled shrilly, and Hagrid made frantic hushing noises with his hands as the enormous creature before them grunted loudly and shifted in its sleep. 'He's been hurting you all this time, hasn't he? That's why you've had all these injuries!'

'He don' know his own strength!' replied Hagrid earnestly. 'An' he's gettin' better, he's not fightin' so much any more-'

'So, this is why it took you two months to get home!' said Amelia distractedly.

'Oh, Hagrid, why did you bring him back if he didn't want to come?’ Olivia squeaked in terror. 

Unlike Hagrid, who simply looked like an oversized human, the giant looked strangely misshapen. What the three girls had taken to be a vast mossy boulder to the left of the great earthen mound he now recognised as a giant’s head. It was much larger in proportion to the body than a human head, and was almost perfectly round and covered with tightly curling, close-growing hair the colour of bracken. The rim of a single large, fleshy ear was visible on top of the head, which seemed to sit directly upon the shoulders with little or no neck in between. The back, under what looked like a dirty brownish smock consisting of animal skins sewn roughly together, was very broad; and as the giant slept, it seemed to strain a little at the rough seams of the skins. The legs were curled up under the body. The girls could see the soles of enormous, filthy, bare feet, large as sledges, resting one on top of the other on the earthy Forest floor.

‘His name’s Grawp,’ Hagrid said, happiness in his hoarse voice. 

'You want us to teach him,' Amelia said in a hollow voice.

'Yeah, even if yeh jus' talk ter him a bit,' said Hagrid hopefully. 'Cause I reckon, if he can talk ter people, he'll understand more that we all like 'im really, an' want 'im ter stay.'

Isabell looked at Olivia, who peered back at her from between the fingers over her face.

'Kind of makes you wish we had Norbert back, doesn't it?' Isabell said, and Olivia gave a very shaky laugh.

'Yeh'll do it, then?' said Hagrid, who did not seem to have caught what Isabell had just said.

'We'll...'  said Amelia, already bound by her promise.

'We'll try, Hagrid…’ Olivia replied, her voice hesitant. 

'I knew I could count on yeh, Amelia, Olivia and Isabell,' Hagrid said, beaming in a very watery way and dabbing at his face with his handkerchief again. 'An' I don' wan' yeh ter put yerself out too much, like...  I know yeh've got exams... if yeh could jus' nip down here once a week an' have a little chat with 'im. I'll wake 'im up, then introduce yeh to ‘im!'

'What- no!' said Amelia, jumping up. 'Hagrid, no, don't wake him, really, we don't need-'

But Hagrid had already stepped over the great tree trunk in front of them and was proceeding towards Grawp. When he was about ten feet away, he lifted a long, broken bough from the ground, smiled reassuringly over his shoulder at the three girls, then poked Grawp hard in the middle of the back with the end of the bough.

The giant gave a roar that echoed around the silent Forest; birds in the treetops overhead rose twittering from their perches and soared away.

In front of the terrified trio, meanwhile, the gigantic Grawp was rising from the ground, which shuddered as he placed an enormous hand upon it to push himself on to his knees. He turned his head to see who and what had disturbed him.

'All righ', Grawpy?' said Hagrid, in a would-be cheery voice, backing away with the long bough raised, ready to poke Grawp again. 'Had a nice sleep, eh?'

‘You nicknamed him?’ Isabell said in disbelief. 

The trio retreated as far as they could while still keeping the giant within their sights. Grawp knelt between two trees he had not yet uprooted. They looked up into his startlingly huge face that resembled a grey full moon swimming in the gloom of the clearing. It was as though the features had been hewn on to a great stone ball. The nose was stubby and shapeless, the mouth lopsided and full of misshapen yellow teeth the size of half-bricks; the eyes, small by giant standards, were a muddy greenish-brown and just now were half-gummed together with sleep. Grawp raised dirty knuckles, each as big as a cricket ball, to his eyes, rubbed vigorously, then, without warning, pushed himself to his feet with surprising speed and agility.

'Oh my!' Amelia and Isabell heard Olivia squeal, terrified, beside them.

The trees to which the other ends of the ropes around Grawp's wrists and ankles were attached creaked ominously. He was, as Hagrid had said, at least sixteen feet tall. Gazing blearily around, Grawp reached out a hand the size of a beach umbrella, seized a bird's nest from the upper branches of a towering pine and turned it upside-down with a roar of apparent displeasure that there was no bird in it; eggs fell like grenades towards the ground and Hagrid threw his arms over his head to protect himself.

'Anyway, Grawpy,' shouted Hagrid, looking up apprehensively in case of further falling eggs, 'I've brought some friends ter meet yeh. Remember, I told yeh I might? Remember, when I said I might have ter go on a little trip an' leave them ter look after yeh fer a bit? Remember that, Grawpy?'

But Grawp merely gave another low roar; it was hard to say whether he was listening to Hagrid or whether he even recognised the sounds Hagrid was making as speech. He had now seized the top of the pine tree and was pulling it towards him, evidently for the simple pleasure of seeing how far it would spring back when he let go.

'Now, Grawpy, don' do that!' shouted Hagrid. 'That's how you ended up pullin' up the others-'

And sure enough, Amelia, Isabell and Olivia could see the earth around the tree's roots beginning to crack.

'I got company for yeh!' Hagrid shouted. 'Company, see! Look down, yeh big buffoon, I brought yeh some friends!'

'Oh, Hagrid, don't,' moaned Isabell, but Hagrid had already raised the bough again and gave Grawp's knee a sharp poke.

The giant let go of the top of the tree, which swayed alarmingly and deluged Hagrid with a rain of pine needles, and looked down.

'This,' said Hagrid, hastening over to where the trio stood, 'Is Olivia, Grawp! Olivia Dragonheart! She migh' be comin' ter visit yeh if I have ter go away, understand?'

The giant had only just realised that the three girls were there. They watched, in great trepidation, as he lowered his huge boulder of a head so that he could peer clearly at them.

‘This is Amelia, Grawpy, see? The blonde-haired girl! She’ll be comin’!’

Amelia gave a quick wave then looked at Grawp nervously.

‘An' this is Isabell, see? Isa—' Hagrid hesitated.

Turning to Isabell, he said, 'Would yeh mind if he called yeh Bell, Isabell? It's a difficult name fer him ter remember.'

'No, not at all,' Isabell growled, clearly unhappy that Grawp will know her as “Bell”.

'This is Bell, Grawp! An' she's gonna be comin' an' all! Is'n' that nice? Eh? Three friends fer yeh ter—GRAWPY, NO!'

Grawp's hand had shot out of nowhere towards Isabell; Amelia quickly reacted and seized her and pulled her backwards behind the tree, so that Grawp's fist scraped the trunk but closed on thin air.

'BAD BOY, GRAWPY!' they heard Hagrid yelling, as Isabell clung to Amelia behind the tree, shaking and whimpering. 'VERY BAD BOY!

YEH DON' GRAB- OUCH!'

Amelia poked her head out from around the trunk and saw Hagrid lying on his back, his hand over his nose. Grawp grabbed Isabell. Isabell felt blood rushing through her head and she felt herself getting thrown up and down, up and down, up and down, as though a small brown ball. Grawp, apparently losing interest, had straightened up and was again engaged in pulling back the pine as far as it would go, Isabell still in one hand. 

‘Put me down!’ Isabell pleaded, trying to slap Grawp’s hand.

But it was no use. Grawp’s skin was six times more thick than hers. Isabell huffed on some hair covering one side of her face. 

‘HAGRID! DO SOMETHING!’ she suddenly yelled, her voice causing some animals in the distance to shriek or hiss. 

‘Isabell, don’t tell Hagrid, tell Grawp!’ Amelia yelled. 

Isabell looked at Grawp, who scratched at his belly button. He let go of the pine tree, missing its branches by inches. 

‘Grawp, sweet, beautiful Grawp, please let me down,’ Isabell said, starting with the sweet and kind attitude. 

Grawp didn’t reply. He simply grunted and examined his yellow toe nails. He then looked at Isabell and started running in circles, making Isabell seem like an aeroplane. The forest ground rumbled underneath him, making Olivia tumble and fall down. She saw Grawp’s right foot about to squish her head and break her skull- 

Someone snatched her from her arms and quickly dragged her back as the giant’s foot almost crushed the ground. Olivia quickly thanked Amelia as she got up. 

If the experience of riding an aeroplane was like vomiting, then Isabell didn’t want to ever ride one. She felt her stomach flip multiple times in a row as her vision blurred, her mind going dizzy- Grawp mimicked aeroplane noises as he forcibly made Isabell stretch her arms wide. It could either be: get squashed by a giant or be a pretend aeroplane. 

Isabell groaned, feeling hotness going slowly up from her lungs, which were enlarging and shrinking within every heavy intensive breath she took. 

‘G-Grawp… l-let… m-me… d-down…’ Isabell said, gasping for breath as Grawp squeezed her as though intending to squeeze out her organs, which was about to happen at some point. 

Hagrid was still on the floor, unconscious as the fallen leaves of the pine trees fell upon his hairy head.

‘G-GRAWP!’ Isabell roared. ‘IF YOU DON’T PUT ME DOWN THIS INSTANT, I WILL GIVE YOU A PUNISHMENT!’

Grawp looked at her, looking upset. He set her down on the floor. Isabell realised that Amelia and Olivia’s mouths were open.

‘What?’ she said, panting.

‘You-you just spoke G-Giant- language-’ Amelia stuttered.

‘I did?’ said Isabell with arched eyebrows and still panting.

‘Y-yes,’ muttered Olivia faintly.

‘Wait… so I can’t just speak normal animal and alicorn-’

‘You can also speak to all magical creatures!’

‘Try speaking Giant again.’

‘I’d rather not wake him up again,’ said Isabell as they slowly looked at Grawp, who had already crumpled into a ball again. 

‘Rennervate,’ said Olivia, pointing her wand at an unconscious Hagrid.

Hagrid’s eyes fluttered open, his back making cracking sounds as he stood up. He groaned and scratched his hair head then massaged his back.

‘Is Grawpy alright?’ Hagrid asked, unfocused. 

‘IS GRAWP ALRIGHT? HAGRID ARE YOU MAD? HE LITERALLY ALMOST KILLED ISABELL!’ yelled Amelia, pointing at the sleeping Grawp.

‘Righ’, sorry. 'Righ',' said Hagrid thickly, getting up with one hand pinching his bleeding nose and the other grasping his crossbow. ‘Well... there yeh are... yeh've met him an'- an' now he'll know yeh when yeh come back. Yeah... well...' 

He looked up at Grawp, who was now snoring loudly, which made the ground rumble. 

'Well, I reckon that's enough fer one day,' said Hagrid. 'We'll-'er—we'll go back now, shall we?' 

The trio nodded. Hagrid shouldered his crossbow again and, still pinching his nose, led the way back into the trees. Nobody spoke for a while, not even when they heard the distant crash that meant Grawp had woken up again. Isabell's face was pale and set. Olivia could not think of a single thing to say, and neither could Amelia. What on earth was going to happen when somebody found out that Hagrid had hidden Grawp in the Forbidden Forest? And he had promised that they would continue Hagrid's totally pointless attempts to civilise the giant. How could Hagrid, even with his immense capacity to delude himself that fanged monsters were loveably harmless, fool himself that Grawp would ever be fit to mix with humans? 

'Hold it,' said Hagrid abruptly, just as the girls were struggling through a patch of thick knotgrass behind him and causing a pile-up and crushed toes.

He pulled an arrow out of the quiver over his shoulder and fitted it into the crossbow. Olivia raised her wand, followed by Amelia then Isabell. Now that they had stopped walking, they, too, could hear eerie and sinewy movement close by. 

'Oh, blimey,' said Hagrid quietly as the sound of hooves was heard. 

'I thought we told you, Hagrid,' said a deep male voice. 'That you are no longer welcome here?' 

A man's naked torso seemed for an instant to be floating towards them through the dappled green half-light; then they saw that his waist joined smoothly into a horse's chestnut body. It was a centaur, who had a proud, high-cheekbones face and long rippling black hair. Like Hagrid, he was armed; a quiverful of arrows and a longbow were slung over his shoulders. 

'How are yeh, Magorian?' said Hagrid warily. 

The trees behind the centaur rustled and four or five more centaurs emerged behind him. 

'So,' he said, with a nasty inflection in his voice, before turning immediately to Magorian. 'We agreed, I think, what would we do if this human ever showed his face in the Forest again?' 

'"This human" now, am I?' said Hagrid testily. 'Jus' fer stoppin' all of yeh committin' murder?' 

'You ought not to have meddled, Hagrid,' said Magorian. 'Our ways are not yours, nor are our laws. Firenze has betrayed and dishonoured us.' 'I dunno how yeh work that out,' said Hagrid impatiently. 'He's done nothin' except help Albus Dumbledore-' 

'Firenze has entered into servitude to humans,' said a grey centaur with a hard, deeply lined face. 

'Servitude!’ said Hagrid scathingly. 'He's doin' Dumbledore a favour is all-' 

'He is peddling our knowledge and secrets among humans,' said Magorian quietly. 

'There can be no return from such disgrace,' another centaur said.

'If yeh say so, but personally I think yeh're makin' a big mistake-' 

'As are you, human, coming back into our Forest when we warned you-' 'Now, yeh listen ter me,' said Hagrid angrily. 'I'll have less of the "our" forest, if it's all the same ter yeh. It's not up ter yeh who comes an' goes in here!' 

'No more is it up to you, Hagrid,' said Magorian smoothly. 'I shall let you pass today because you are accompanied by your young-' 

'They're not his!' interrupted another centaur contemptuously. 'Students, Magorian, from up at the school! They have probably already profited from the traitor Firenze's teachings.' 

'Nevertheless, the slaughter of foals is a terrible crime. We do not touch the innocent. Today, Hagrid, you pass. Henceforth, stay away from this place. You forfeited the friendship of the centaurs when you helped the traitor Firenze escape us.' 

'I won' be kept outta the Fores' by a bunch o' old mules like yeh!' said Hagrid loudly.

'Hagrid,' said Isabell worriedly, as both a brown haired and the grey centaur pawed at the ground. 

‘Let's go, please let's go!' Amelia and Olivia yelled.

Hagrid moved forwards, but his crossbow was still raised and his eyes were still fixed threateningly upon Magorian. 

'We know what you are keeping in the Forest, Hagrid!' Magorian called after them, as the centaurs slipped out of sight. 'And our tolerance is waning!' 

Hagrid turned and gave every appearance of wanting to walk straight back to Magorian. 

'Yeh'll tolerate 'im as long as he's here, it's as much his Forest as yours!' he yelled, as the trio pushed with all their might against Hagrid's moleskin waistcoat in an effort to keep him moving forwards. Still scowling, he looked down; his expression changed to mild surprise at the sight of them both pushing him; he seemed not to have felt it. 

'Calm down, you three,' he said, turning to walk on while they parted along behind him. 'Ruddy old mules, though, eh?' 

'Hagrid, if the centaurs don't want humans in the Forest, it doesn't really look as though we will be able to-' Amelia began.

'Ah, you heard what they said,' said Hagrid dismissively. 'They wouldn't hurt foals—I mean, kids. Anyway, we can' let ourselves be pushed aroun' by that lot.' 

'Nice try,' Isabell murmured to Amelia, who looked crestfallen. 

At last they rejoined the path and, after another ten minutes, the trees began to thin; they were able to see patches of clear blue sky again and, in the distance, the definite sounds of cheering and shouting. 

'Was that another goal?’ asked Hagrid, pausing in the shelter of the trees as the Quidditch stadium came into view. 'Or d'yeh reckon the match is over?' 

'I don't know,' said Isabell indifferently. 

Olivia and Amelia saw that she looked much worse coming out than in; her hair was full of twigs and leaves, her robes were ripped in several places and there were numerous scratches on her face and arms. 

'I reckon it's over, yeh know!’ said Hagrid, still squinting towards the stadium. 'Look- there's people comin' out already- if yeh three hurry yeh'll be able ter blend in with the crowd an' no one'll know yeh weren't there!' 

'Good idea,' said Olivia. 

'Well ... see you later, then, Hagrid,’ Isabell muttered.

'I don't believe him,' said Olivia in a very unsteady voice, the moment they were out of earshot of Hagrid. ‘I really don't believe him! Why would he want us to teach a giant English!’

'Well, neither do I, but calm down, we don’t want to attract attention,’ said Amelia, patting Olivia on the shoulder.

'We haven't got to do anything yet anyway…’ Isabell tried to reassure them in a quiet voice, as they joined a stream of jabbering Hufflepuffs heading back towards the castle. 'He's not asking us to do anything unless he gets chucked out and that might not even happen.' 

'Oh, come off it, Isabell!' said Olivia angrily, stopping dead in her tracks so that the people behind had to swerve to avoid her. 'Of course he's going to be chucked out and, to be perfectly honest, after what we've just seen, who can blame Umbridge?' 

There was a pause in which Amelia and Isabell glared at her.

‘You didn't mean that,' said Isabell quietly. 

'No... well... alright...  I didn't,' she said, sighing. 'But why does he have to make life so difficult for himself?' 

Before Amelia or Isabell could reply, there was an uproar of yelling heard.

'Weasley is our King, 

Weasley is our King, 

He didn't let the Quaffle in, 

Weasley is our King...' 

'And I wish they'd stop singing that stupid song, haven't they gloated enough? Oh, let's get in before we have to meet the Slytherins, especially Draco.’

'Weasley can save anything, 

He never leaves a single ring, 

That's why Gryffindors all sing: 

Weasley is our King.' 

'Guys...'  said Isabell slowly. 

The song was growing louder, but it was issuing not from a crowd of green and silver Slytherins, but from a mass of red and gold moving slowly towards the castle, carrying a figure standing in solitude upon its many shoulders. 

'Weasley is our King, 

Weasley is our King, 

He didn't let the Quaffle in, 

Weasley is our King...' 

They climbed the steps together, meeting Albert at the entrance of the front doors. The trio instinctively looked back at the Forbidden Forest. They were not sure whether or not it was their imagination, but they rather thought they saw a small cloud of birds erupting into the air over the treetops in the distance, almost as though the tree in which they had been nesting had just been pulled up by the roots.

‘Anything bothering you-’ began Albert.

‘Nothing. Life’s simply perfect,’ Amelia replied unconvincingly.

‘Hagrid has a giant in the forest, Albert,’ said Olivia.

‘What?’

‘We’ll explain later,’ she said.

‘You better.’