Renewed Beginnings

Catherine sat before the mirror in the room she had rented above The Three Broomsticks, brushing her hair. As she did, she let her mind drift back through the years.

The sunlight filtered through the windows as 5-year-old Catherine ran down the stairs. Her parents had run the bookshop below their flat for as long as she could remember. The Muggles that patronized the shop had no idea that a family of wizards lived above their heads.

Plaited hair flying behind her, Catherine ran behind the counter, evoking laughter from the customer just completing a transaction with her father. "Papa! Can I go and play in the park today? Please?"

Daryn Flaherty hesitated before answering. Catherine was so young, and she was small for her age. On the other hand, she was their only child, and he hated saying no to her. As he looked into her pleading aqua eyes, his resolve melted. "All right, love. But take Alita with you so you mother won't worry. She can fly back to warn us if there's any trouble." Alita was the scarlet macaw the family used in place of an owl so as not to raise the suspicions of the Muggle patrons.

"Oh, thank you, Papa!" With a quick hug and kiss, Catherine was out the door, Alita on her shoulder.

Catherine loved the small park near her home. It wasn't fancy, just a few swing sets and slides and a sand box. Still, it offered an escape from the musty odors in the bookshop. Something was wrong today, though.

Catherine noticed it immediately. A large group of boys, about eight or ten of them, had cornered another, larger boy near one of the slides. Though the other boy was much larger than any of them, he didn't appear to be fighting back at all. In fact, he seemed much more intent on merely trying to get away. Catherine knew who he was, of course. He was Rubeus Hagrid, the half-giant boy everyone was always warning her to stay away from. Curious, she moved closer. As she did, she could hear some of what the boys were saying.

"We know about your mum, you filthy half-breed!"

"Yeah, half-wit! Nobody wants you here, so why don't you just leave?"

"So you're mum's a giant. With a mug that ugly, what was your grandpa? A troll?"

Each nasty comment was punctuated by raucous laughter from the group. Finally, Catherine could take no more. Disregarding the fact that the smallest of the boys was more than twice her size, she stepped out from behind the slide where she had been watching them.

"You really shouldn't insult someone's looks when you look like a troll's backside yourself, you know."

At the sound of her voice, the boys turned as one to see who had the audacity to say such a thing to them. They all laughed uproariously at the sight of the tiny girl standing before them with her hands on her hips, glaring at them. The leader of the group laughed. "What are you going to do to stop us, little girl?"

Catherine said nothing as the boy started toward her. Halfway to her, he tripped over his shoelaces, and fell flat on his face. His cronies, sensing weakness, started toward her as well. One by one, each met the same fate, tripping over suddenly untied shoelaces, rocks that mysteriously appeared in their paths, their own feet, and even each other, until they ended up in a writhing, yelling heap. Attracted by the noise, several adults came to investigate. Their fun thwarted by the appearance of so many adults, the boys left as they disentangled themselves.

Satisfied that they were gone, Catherine walked over to the boy. "Hello. I'm Catherine Flaherty. Are you all right?" She smiled at him as he dusted himself off and got to his feet. He was much larger than the other boys had been, but up close, she could see that he was also several years younger. He certainly didn't look mean or dangerous like everyone said, either. And he looked more scared than scary. She made up her mind then and there that she wanted to be friends with this boy if she could.

"I'm all right. An' thanks fer that. I mean, the shoelaces an' rocks an' all, that was you, wasn' it?...I prob'ly shouldn'ta said that...Anyway, I'm..."

Catherine interrupted him. "Oh, I know who you are. You're Rubeus Hagrid. And just so you know, I've heard the stories about your mum, and I don't care about that one bit. I like you. You're nice. I'd like to be your friend, if you'll let me, Rubeus. And, um, I'm not sure, but yeah, I think I did all that with the rocks and stuff. Things like that happen sometimes when I get mad. My dad says it's a sign of coming into my powers. You see, I know about your dad, too, that he's a wizard, I mean. My family are wizarding folk, too. So, do you think we can be friends?"

The boy just stood there for a minute, looking at her as if she had turned into a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. When he spoke, his voice was full of gratitude. "O' course we can be friens, if that's what yeh want! On one condition, though. Yeh call me Hagrid, like ever'body else does. Me dad is the on'y one what ever calls me Rubeus."

The two new friends smiled at each other, and spent the rest of the afternoon playing, as children should. Catherine delighted in how high Hagrid could push her on the swings. Hagrid, in turn, hung on every word she spoke as if there were nothing in the world he would rather do. When they parted at dinnertime, it was with promises to meet there again as soon as possible.

Naturally, when Catherine told her father of her new friend, he had plenty of objections. No child of his was going to be cavorting about with the spawn of some wild giantess! Catherine put up a fierce fight, staunchly defending her new friend. In the end, Daryn Flaherty gave in to his daughter's desires. The two had been the best of friends ever since.

Catherine shook herself out of her reverie, realizing she had been holding the brush idly for several minutes now. She needed to be leaving momentarily in order to keep her scheduled date with Hagrid at his hut. She glanced over at her reflection in the mirror. The reflection smiled back at her and winked. "You look beautiful, love. He'll be simply enchanted." Letting the brush fall onto the dresser, she headed out the door.