Harry Potter and the Dragon

XII

Hermione

Someone was hysterically knocking at the cabin's door.

"I'm comin'! I'm comin'!" snapped Hagrid. "Dammit!" People rarely visited him, but of course, someone had to go and disturb him in the precise moment he had been striving to memorize a Conjunctivitis curse.

"Oh, hi Hermione. Look, I'm busy," the half-giant said, having to move aside to dodge a galloping Hermione who blurted out a speeding up speech as soon as she set a foot on the place.

"Hagrid, listen, I know you may not believe this, but Madame Rosmerta came to the bookstore and told me Gilderoy and his friends are setting a trap for you, she said you trusted them, but they're up to no good because she heard Gilderoy mention Cornelius's friend, you know who I mean, of course, and -"

"Nah! 'Tis impossible! What would Gilderoy do tha' for?"

"There's no time to explain, Hagrid! Listen to me! I know them well...! They'll be waiting for you at the fountain, along with Dolores Umbridge, the Inquisitor, and a pack of Dementors!" Hermione spoke as if the apocalypse season had begun.

"Bu' why? I 'aven't done no wrong -" Hagrid said, puzzled.

"Hagrid, if you don't show up in the fountain they'll come here for you! You have to run away! Hide! Go to the mountains!"

"Bu' HERMIONE! Calm down!" Hagrid had to restore to shouting to make the girl get a grip. "They don' have charges agains' me. They simply can'!"

"Oh! You're so candid, Hagrid!" she said with a desperate tremor in her throat. "They want you locked in, Azkaban, San Mungo, anything will do!!... Hagrid, you don't understand! Gilderoy wants you out so he can lay his hands on Harry!"

"An' why would Gilderoy want ter beat him? He jus' said -" Hagrid frowned a little, as he suddenly understood. "How could've bin so blind! How come I didn' realize!" he said. "Me poor baby! Now I understan' his queer questions, his ill humor... Did yeh know, Hermione?"

"Yes, er, but it's not like everybody in town knows... It's just that, well, I observe..." said Hermione, rather uncomfortable.

"Me poor kid... 'Ave you talk'd ter 'im abou' it?" asked Hagrid depressed.

"Well, no. It's not something he likes to talk about, I suppose," she answered.

"I didn' know it... but... well, who'd think Harry'd fall for that dolt?" sighed Hagrid, dispirited.

"No! Hagrid, no! It's just the other way around! Well, that's not important anymore, you have to run away!"

"Bu' what abou' Harry!! He's locked up wi' that beast!!"

"What beast, Hagrid? What are you talking about?"

Hagrid took his time and told Hermione all about the events of the previous night. Her face mutated, as the story advanced, from a disbelieving expression to an alarmed one. When the half-giant was finished, her brown mane was even more disheveled than usual. Once she could clear her mind from the shock she started to think as always, and therefore, she came with what, according to her, was the perfect solution. Hagrid had to go away, to the mountains, to hide from anyone who'd want to cage him. Once there, he'd have to convince a couple of relatives, that is, giants, to go with him and raid the beast's manor so they could rescue Harry. Hermione, in the meantime, would have Hagrid owled regularly, as she could stay in Hogsmeade without arousing suspicions. The only problem with the plan was, as Hagrid put it into words:

"Bu' that 'orrible monster coul' be now eatin' 'im alive! We've no time ter lose!"

"I know! I know!" Hermione was getting nervous again. "I'll see what I can do. I'll gather as much information as possible, and I'll see if I can find someone in this town we could trust apart from Madame Rosmerta... It's a pity that there's not much we can do about it... I hope Harry will find a way to escape, it's not like he doesn't have resources of his own..."

"If he'd on'y 'ad a broomstick... We could get one, an' take it ter him, an' he could go away flyin'!"

"A broomstick! That's an excellent idea, Hagrid! And that's something I can manage to get, though I don't know how long it'd take; they're very expensive -" Hermione fell silent, panic-stricken. There were voices outside. They were coming. "Hagrid, run! I have to escape, too! If not, they'll know I've warned you!"

"Yeh're right... Luckily I had me things ready fer the raid. Well, thanks a lot Hermione, I owe yeh me life," the half-giant said, a frown creasing his forehead.

"Bye Hagrid. And...I'm sorry."

Hagrid got out of the cabin via back door, dragging Buckbeak with him through the countryside till taking off was safe. Hermione, on the contrary, didn't leave the house but hid inside the pantry. It was so small she knew they wouldn't be checking it in their search for the half-giant. She did well, for she finally had her fears confirmed.

In fact, Gilderoy and his mates, along with a squat woman uglier than a mummy frog, inspected the house at their leisure, unknowingly revealing very valuable information during their stay.

"So... this is the home - she emphasized the word dismissively - of a half-breed. A half-breed who lives with a torturer..." The woman said while walking around the place.

"Now, now, Dolores, it's not like Harry's a torturer... It's just that, well, sometimes he gets a bit overexcited, that's all," sniggered Gilderoy, who was very busy looking for clues into Harry's belongings.

"My dear Gilderoy, do not fool yourself! Even if the boy's a pureblood, someone as abominable as that hybrid might have dreadfully misled him. That's the reason why I agreed to take that mongrel to Azkaban, to prevent that poor boy from following the path of delinquency. If he's showing the first signs of brutality, the quicker we act the better," the witch said melodiously.

Since the cabin was basically a single room with almost no divisions, Hermione, from her hiding place, could see plenty of what was happening outside. Shocked, she saw Gilderoy stuffing furtively something in his pocket, something that looked too much like underwear to be anything else. I can't believe it! This horrible man is worse than I thought! Perhaps Harry's safer with that monster...

"Well, it seems he's not home. Should we wait for him? He probably went to feed his freaks before leaving or something?" Cornelius asked Gilderoy.

"No, let's get out of here. I have a pressing business to attend, but I'll turn up in the Three Broomsticks later. So Wormtail, you'll stay outside the cabin waiting for the oaf. If he shows up, or Harry does, go immediately to the pub and let me know, all right?"

Wormtail nodded grudgingly.

The Inquisitorial Crew left the cabin and marched out towards the village. Wormtail sat under a tree, and Hermione had to wait for the abject little man to fall asleep before she could get out of the house.