Harry Potter and the Students of the School of the Sphinx

Harry Potter and the Students of the School of the Sphinx

By Angelina Johnson

Chapter 9
Saying Hi To Hagrid

The next couple of weeks passed by without much time to spare. Harry and Ron had a very light load of homework compared to last year, but they were spending plenty of time on it, making sure that they did every assignment perfectly. Hermione was pleased to see that they were finally taking their futures seriously, and she even offered to help them if they were ever stuck. Harry was shocked to find that he was actually getting good grades. He was also shocked to find that Hermione's grades were starting to slip some, and he was actually equal to her in all of his classes.

"What exactly have you been doing that you aren't top in everything?" Ron asked her one night. Hermione shrugged.

"Oh, come on, Hermione, we know that something is up," Harry said. Hermione glared at them.

"I can't explain. But as long as my grades are still good, then what I'm doing is still more important," Hermione said. Harry shook his head. Now he had another thing to add to his list of things to do-find out what Hermione was up to. This was now on a very long list, along with talking to Melissa about why she acted so strange around Professor Langley, writing to Sirius, talking to Alex Evans in order to figure out why Voldemort had attacked the School of the Sphinx in the first place, visiting Hagrid, holding a meeting of the D.A., and figuring out what was going to happen with him and Ginny.

Of course, on top of all of that, Harry still had Quidditch practice three or more days a week. The team was flying very well, and Harry was amazed by the chemistry that they seemed to have. However, Harry had heard rumors that the other teams were also excellent this year. Apparently Cho Chang had put together a very good Ravenclaw team, and Malfoy had made a very large Slytherin team. Harry wasn't sure how good they were talent wise, but if it was going on size then the Slytherin's would win hands down. Harry had also discovered that Alex Evans was a marvelous flier, and if the rest of the Sphinx team was even half as good as her, then the team would be tough to beat.

Quidditch was the least of Harry's worries, of course. That night he was going down to visit Hagrid, along with Ron. They had asked Hermione to come along as well, but she had politely declined, saying that she had other things that she needed to do. Ron seemed disappointed, but he cheered up when they ran into Alex Evans in the hall. She said that she had to go to Quidditch practice in a little while, and Ron asked her if she wanted to go to Hagrid's with them for a few minutes before practice. She looked at Ron a little strangely, but then she smiled and agreed. Harry made sure that the Invisibility Cloak that he had brought along was safely tucked under his cloak-he didn't want Alex to discover it, but he had brought it along just in case.

Harry had only talked to Alex a few times, but she seemed like someone worth knowing, and it would be good to have someone helping them who knew what was going on with the people from the School of the Sphinx. 'Ron doesn't seem to mind her too much,' Harry thought with a laugh.

Finally, the three of them reached the other end of the lawn, and they knocked on Hagrid's massive door. After a moment's wait, the door swung open, and a very large man appeared before them. Hagrid smiled, his black eyes happy and glowing.

"I been wonderin' when you lot would come see me. I haven't had much time to talk to ye in me class. But, where's 'Ermione?" Hagrid asked.

"She's sorry she couldn't come, but she, er, had something else to do. She wouldn't tell us what," Ron said.

"Ah, well, that's all righ'," Hagrid said.

"And, er, who's yer frien'? I'm sorry, I know yer in one of me classes, but I haven' learned all the new names yet," Hagrid said.

"This is Alex Evans," Harry said. Alex smiled and extended her hand to Hagrid. Hagrid took it.

"I think I've heard of ye from some'un. Good things, mind ye," Hagrid said. Alex turned slightly red.

"I don't know who could have told you that," Alex muttered.

"Ye must be a good person if 'Arry and Ron here like ye," Hagrid said. Alex blushed even more.

"Well, I need to go-Quidditch practice. It was nice to talk to you-I'll see you tomorrow, I guess," Alex said, and she quickly exited.

"I like her," Ron announced. Harry rolled at his eyes.

"I c'n tell," Hagrid snorted. Harry laughed.

"I didn't mean like that!" Ron protested.

"Sure you didn't," Harry muttered. Ron punched him playfully.

"Anyways, I've been meanin' ter thank you lot for watching Grawpy while I was gone at the end o' las' year," Hagrid said, "I never quite got aroun' to it, what wit' certain events."

"Oh, it was nothing, Hagrid," Harry said truthfully. Harry and Hermione had only been to see Hagrid's giant half brother once during Hagrid's absence, and that had not truly been on purpose, either.

"Well, Harry, I been wantin' to talk ter ye since I foun' out abou' Sirius. Great thing, that. I'm gla' Melissa was there. I remember the two o' them from 'Ogwarts, of course, and you'd never see a funnier pair than the two o' them. I think it's on'y fitting that she was the one to save 'im. They always got along, ye know, not like yer parents. O' course, once they finally did get together, they got along great," Hagrid said. Harry couldn't help but smile a little bit. He always liked hearing Hagrid recall memories of his parents of their friends. Hagrid made it sound as if they had been happy and enjoying themselves, and Harry liked to know that.

"Yeah, I was really shocked when I found out, and I think everyone else was too. When I left with Lupin and them, I was convinced that I would be back at Privet Drive in a matter of hours, and then I got to Headquarters and I saw Sirius, and my mind changed instantly," Harry said.

"I'm glad te know yer happy, then. I heard abou' the weddin'," Hagrid said, "I'll be there, o' course."

"What? What wedding?" Ron demanded. Harry had completely forgotten to mention it to Ron and Hermione.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you! Sirius and Melissa are going to get married over Christmas break," Harry said. Ron stared at him in disbelief.

"You forgot?" Ron asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I mean, they told me and Ginny the night before we left, and I guess I haven't really had time to think about it," Harry said.

"Yeah, I suppose you've just had too much on your mind. Geez, Harry, how can you let something like that slip? You used to tell us everything. I suppose Hermione doesn't know either?" Ron said. Harry looked at him.

"Sorry," Harry said sheepishly.

"It's okay, I understand. You better remember to tell Hermione, though, she usually isn't so understanding," Ron said, but Harry could tell that there was an iciness in his tone, and that he was a little miffed that Harry had forgotten to tell him something so important. Harry was about to apologize again when there was another knock on Hagrid's door.

"Ah, Dumbledore!" Hagrid said as the old man walked.

"Hello, Hagrid. Harry, Ron," he added, acknowledging the two boys.

"I would like a word with Hagrid in private, if you boys don't mind? I'll only be a minute, I suppose you can stay if you like," Dumbledore said.

"Oh, er, that's all right, we were just leaving," Ron lied quickly. Harry smiled apologetically, and he and Ron left through the back door. Harry pulled out the Cloak. He had an Extendable Ear, he could listen to what they were saying... He shook his head. That would be wrong. Ron, however, disagreed. He grabbed the Cloak, and pulled out his own Extendable Ear.

"Go on up to the castle-I'll be there in a few minutes," Ron said.

"All right," Harry said, and he headed back up to the castle quickly.

Hermione was not anywhere to be found when he got back to the Common Room, so Harry sat down on his own in a chair by the fire. He was only alone for a minute before he was joined by Ginny.

"Finally I'm done with all of that awful homework they've been giving me," she said, falling into the chair next to Harry. Harry grinned.

"I remember it all too well," he said.

"Do they think we'll remember more if they cram us with all of that extra work? I just end up forgetting everything because I have to do so much," Ginny said.

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Harry said.

"Hey, where are Ron and Hermione?" she asked, looking around.

"Hermione didn't go with us to Hagrid's because she said that she had something else important that she needed to do. Would you believe that whatever it is that she's doing is more important to her than he grades? I've been getting the same scores as her," Harry said. Ginny grinned.

"Ah, well, I'm sure she'll tell you what's going on soon," Ginny said, "I wish I knew."

"And Ron's still down at Hogwarts. Dumbledore showed up and pretty much asked us to leave, but Ron stayed behind with my Invisibility Cloak and one of the twins' Extendable Ears," Harry explained.

"I hope Dumbledore doesn't figure out what he's doing. That's a bit stupid of him, if you ask me, Dumbledore always seems to know more than he lets on," Ginny said.

"Yeah, that's why I decided not to stay, but oh well. Dumbledore said that he would only be a minute, so Ron should be back shortly," Harry said.

Sure enough, it was only a couple of minutes before Ron appeared through the portrait hole.

"You're not going to believe this, Dumbledore wants Hagrid to go back to the giants, Madam Maxime, too! He's still nutty enough to think that the giants will join us! Didn't last time show him ANYTHING?" Ron asked.

"Well, if Dumbledore thinks that Hagrid should do it, then I reckon he should," Ginny said.

"But what about last time? He could have died!" Ron said.

"But he didn't," Ginny pointed out, but Harry privately agreed with Ron.

"Madam Maxime will be with him, at least," Harry said, trying to make the situation not seem so bad.

"If Hagrid can't take care of himself, then no one can," Ginny said, "I mean, look at all the creatures he's handled. Think of Fluffy, and Norbert, and Buckbeak and the Blast-ended Skrewts!" When Ginny put it like this, it did seem a bit better. At least, Harry tried to tell himself that.

The three of them stayed in the Common Room waiting for Hermione. Everyone else had already left and gone to bed when she finally appeared.

"Where have you been?" Ron asked her.

"Doesn't matter, but I spoke to Melissa, and she says that we ought to be by the fire at one a.m.," Hermione said.

"You mean Sirius is coming?" Ron asked.

"She didn't say, but I don't know what else it could be. It's nearly one, we'll find out in a moment," Hermione said.

"You were right, partly. Sirius is here, but he's not alone," a voice said. The four of them turned around, startled. They looked into the fire, and they saw not one, but three heads in the fire.

"Oh, good, I've been meaning to write to all of you," Harry said, smiling at Sirius, Remus and Julie in the fire.

"You three are nutters, you know that? Everyone knows that you're innocent now, couldn't you have just sent a letter or come to visit Melissa or something?" Ron asked.

"That's no fun, though. We've never been exactly conventional, now have we, Moony?" Sirius asked. Remus nodded.

"Just doing things the normal way would be boring. Even Julie agrees," Remus said, "right, Julie?"

"Oh, I suppose this is quite fun," Julie conceded.

"Why are you here, though?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, well, we wanted to talk to Harry. You've been being careful, and I'm glad, but things are only going to get worse, Harry. There have already been more attacks since the School of the Sphinx was destroyed. But, we'll be pleasant first, I suppose," Sirius said.

"Who's been attacked? What's been happening?" Harry asked immediately.

"Ah, we'll get to that later," Sirius said.

"Yes, how do you like the people from the School of the Sphinx? What are they like?" Remus asked.

"I'm not exactly sure, none of them seem too keen to talk to me. The one I have talked to is nice, though, but she says that she's not like the rest of them, so I guess that's not very promising," Harry said.

"Really? What about the Professors? What are they like?" Julie asked.

"Dunno, only two of them came, and I haven't talked to either one of them, so I have no idea what they're like. I get the feeling Melissa doesn't like Professor Langley that much, though," Harry said.

"Langley?" Julie said.

"Kristin Langley?" Sirius echoed.

"Yeah, I think that's her name, why, do you know her?" Harry asked.

"Know her? Do we know her?" Sirius roared. Julie tried to silence him.

"Oh, Sirius, really! She never did anything to you," Julie said.

"Now, I think both of you are wrong. She made a mistake, Sirius, but she wasn't exactly the nicest person I knew, either, Julie," Remus said.

"A mistake? A mistake? She didn't make a mistake, she did it on purpose! I'm the one who made the mistake by listening to that ("Sirius!" Julie exclaimed). I almost threw everything away because I trusted her," Sirius said angrily.

"Well, I suppose that was rather mean of her, but can't you forgive her?" Julie asked.

"No!" Sirius replied. Remus shook his head.

"Kristin was another of our friends at Hogwarts," Remus tried to explain.

"Maybe she was your friend, but she certainly wasn't mine!" Sirius said.

"Your mother and I were friends with her, Harry, dear," Julie said.

"Melissa, too?" Harry asked.

"Er, no, not really," Julie said.

"And can you blame her?" Sirius asked.

"I think I'd best take him back. Maybe you should stay and tell them what's happened," Remus said. Sirius appeared to be struggling, but after a moment he and Remus both disappeared.

"Ah, yes, well, the attacks. I thought that you all should know-the Spinnets have been killed," Julie said grimly.

"What?" Ginny said in shock.

"All of them?" Ron asked.

"I'm afraid so," Julie replied.

"But why?" Ron asked, "what did he want from the Spinnets?"

"Well, the Spinnets were opposing him, and Mr. Spinnet had a fairly high position in the Ministry, but that's not why Voldemort went after them. They were the Secret Keepers for the Blakes, but I'm not sure if you've heard of them," Julie said.

"I have. Dad's told us about them. Tara works in his department at work, and her dad, doesn't he act as a mediator between Fudge and the American Minister of Magic?"

"Yes, yes, that's right," Julie said.

"But what did he want from the Blakes?" Ron asked.

"Inside information, I suppose. The Spinnets refused to tell where they were, though, so he killed them. Horrible, it was," Julie said.

"I can't believe it," Harry muttered.

"Well, I need to go. I'll keep you informed, and remember, be careful," Julie warned, and she disappeared as well.

"George must be devastated," Ron muttered.

"Yeah. I can't believe this. Voldemort has to be stopped," Ginny said.

"We'll stop him, I swear my life on it," Harry said.