Variations

Chapter 3: The Story of the Groundskeeper

With a heave, Hagrid lifted a fallen tree trunk back onto its stump and watched in appreciation as the gaping wound slowly healed itself. There was no perceptible sign from the tree, but Hagrid liked to think that he could sense the gratitude emanating from the flora he'd healed.

It had been months since the weather and the forest had allowed him down this path, most days he could hardly make if far enough into the forest to see Grawp, and he'd already lost count of how many fallen trees and crushed bushes he'd helped.

Releasing the tree slowly to ensure that it could support its own weight, Hagrid moved on to the next one, adjusting the lay of the unloaded crossbow on his back and the quiver of arrows at his hip. He hadn't thought it necessary to bring it along, but eventually his sense of prudence had won out: certainly the centaurs, already unhappy with humans, had grown especially frustrated after months of rarely being able to see the stars. Now he was beginning to wonder why he'd bothered: he hadn't seen hide or hair of any living beast aside from himself and Fang since they'd entered the forest.

There was no mistaking Fang's joy at being in the forest again, or outside at all, and Hagrid had to admit that he felt the same. For months they, but Fang especially, had been cooped up in Hagrid's cabin, growing increasingly cross with each other. Hagrid couldn't recall how it started, but one of their only comforts had been a match of wits to see who could find the most subtle ways to annoy the other. That had culminated a few nights previous, when Fang settled on Hagrid's bed and refused to allow himself to be removed no matter what dire consequences he was threatened with. Eventually, Hagrid had no choice but to lie down on top of Fang. The next morning he'd woken to find his dog back in his usual bed and the pair had shaken on an uneasy truce.

Now, however, Fang was as happy as Hagrid had ever seen him. He was barking and jumping as he playfully gave chase to insects and the odd pixie, just barely remaining close enough to give the impression that he was still heeding Hagrid's command to heel.

Even though he'd suspected that it was too good to last, when it started raining again Hagrid couldn't help but glare up at the sky with exacerbation. Fang seemed to be of similar mind. He started growling with some menace, though whether the sentiment was directed at the sky for having the audacity to start leaking again, Hagrid to warn him against considering going back to the cabin, or the nearest pixie for tugging his tail, was unclear. In any case, Hagrid didn't want to return to his cabin any more than Fang did and he could see more than enough trees in need of his help, so he simply shook his head to clear the water from his eyebrows and continued on.

It grew dark quickly, but not unusually so, judging by the severity of the storm. Hagrid's pink umbrella was perfectly suited to his typical brand of magic but entirely unequal to a water repelling charm or even shielding its owner the way it was originally designed to, and Hagrid was beginning to wonder if he'd made a mistake in deciding to stay when the storm started.

He had just elected to turn back when there was a thunderous series of approaching crashes that ended somewhere to his right and a shout, barely audible above the noise of the rain.

"What have you done?"

It wasn't a student or an Acromantula. A centaur, perhaps.

Pocketing his umbrella and taking up his crossbow instead, Hagrid made his way to the disturbance, a slightly less resolved Fang trailing him.

Along the way they were passed by a group of five centaurs, all armed with bows and arrows. Hagrid hurried to follow.

When they all stopped, it took Hagrid a moment to realize why. He'd be expecting, or perhaps hoping, for the danger to be manageable, something he'd encountered before, not a fully grown Chimera, a fearsome beast, two stories tall and with a lion, goat, and snake head projecting from various places.

At first Hagrid was struck, not by fear, but by awe at the sight of the rare creature he'd only seen illustrations of, vague sketches based on word of mouth descriptions from ancient times. And there Hagrid stood, facing one in real living color, the most magnificent beast he'd ever seen. How he wished he could speak with it, learn about its life and its species, but then he remembered why an accurate picture of a Chimera was so rare: because those who got close enough to observe the beat in detail rarely lived to tell someone else. Now one was standing here, in the forest, less than a mile from Hogwarts' front door and a school full of students that the Chimera would gladly tear limb from limb. It had already made several attempts on the surrounding centaurs.

For their part, the centaurs had already assembled the largest group Hagrid had ever seen at once and they were sending a near constant stream of arrows up at the Chimera. However, the arrows seemed to be having almost no effect: it was a rare hit that did not simply glance of the beat's thick fur and an ever rarer one that seemed to cause it any pain. Still, wishing he could find a way to send the creature away from Hogwarts without hurting it but seeing no other option, Hagrid armed his crossbow, took aim at one of the lion head's eyes, and let fly. It ducked at just the right moment and the arrow grazed one of the goat head's ears instead. It gave a bleat of annoyance but no outward sign of pain.

Unfazed and steadily forgetting his sympathy for the Chimera as he watched the destruction it was causing, Hagrid reloaded and tried again, but his next five shots met similar ends and the centaurs weren't having any better luck. The Chimera was simply too well protected by that same ancient magic that defended dragons. Maybe they could put an end to the Chimera if they had an equivalent number of fully realized wizards, but as things stood they didn't seem to have much of a chance.

What's more, the centaurs' numbers were steadily decreasing as the Chimera made a series of sudden and unpredictable attacks, lashing out with one or more of its three heads and four paws and always leaving at least one centaur bleeding on the ground.

Hagrid hadn't been anticipating this sort of conflict when he left his cabin that morning but as he reached for his next arrow his was surprised and dismayed to discover that he'd already used most of his supply. He hoped he'd think of a better plan by the time he ran out.

He was fitting an arrow to his crossbow when something unexpected happened: the Chimera experienced a sudden jerk, as though it was being pulled backwards by a force outside of its control. Peering through the rain and trees in search of the source of that force, Hagrid was amazed and dismayed to see that Grawp had caught hold of the snake head around its neck. As Hagrid watched, Grawp struck the snake's head against the nearest tree with a resounding crack. It wasn't clear whether the noise came from the tree or the snake's skull, but, in either case, when Grawp released it, the snake flopped to the ground, stunned or dead.

Hagrid was so surprised that his hand loosened on the crossbow before he had properly secured the trigger. He hadn't been aiming at anything in particular, but it struck true anyway, embedding itself deep in the Chimera's nearest foot.

The lion head gave a yelp of pain as it lifted the wounded foot and when it gingerly placed it back on the ground Hagrid was visited by a flash of realization.

"We have to aim fer the feet!" he exclaimed, turning for the nearest centaur, who, most unluckily, happened to be Bane.

"The feet, you say," Bane replied, stubbornly taking aim at the lion's nose.

"Yes, the feet!" Hagrid said frantically. "All together, an' quickly, while he's still distracted."

"And why should we listen to you?" Bane maintained stuffily.

"Do yeh want this creature outta the forest or not?" Hagrid demanded. "Am I too much of a wizard fer yeh ter listen to? Do I have to get Grawp ter ask? Or Fang?"

Bane glanced at Fang, who'd been cowering behind the nearest tree, with some distain, but it was clear that his resolve was failing.

"It's bound to work better 'n what we been tryin'," Hagrid added.

Bane shook his head in a resigned sort of way and shouted, "Fire on its left front paw. Now!"

A moment later the paw in question was a pin cushion and the lion and goat heads cried out in pain.

"Right front paw, now!"

The other paw was soon struck by fifty arrows and the Chimera rocked unsteadily on its hind legs.

"Left back paw-"

"Stop!" the Chimera pleaded in an eerily echoing voice as the lion and goat spoke the same words but not quite in unison.

"Why should we," Bane returned. "You invaded our forest."

"We will leave!" the Chimera replied.

"How do we know you will not return," Bane demanded.

"We did not know pain," the Chimera said. "You have shown it to us and we do not want to know it again. You have proven yourselves stronger than us."

Bane remained motionless for a moment, eying the lion head, then he loosened his bow. Around him, the other centaurs and Hagrid did the same.

"Very well. You will be escorted to the edge of our forest. Know that if you do return we will not hesitate to show you more pain."

"We understand," the Chimera replied, turning to hobble after a centaur, which was leading it deeper into the forest so that it could leave without passing Hogwarts. The snake head was dragging behind it like a dead thing. Another ten centaurs followed.

When the Chimera had disappeared, the centaurs turned to help their wounded while Hagrid sought out Grawp.

"Good work," Hagrid said, patting his brother's hand. "We couldn' have done it without yeh."

But Grawp was looking at his hand as though he hadn't realized that it was still there. Concerned, Hagrid paused to inspect the limb as well and discovered that Grawp's hand, already massive, had nearly doubled in size. His own hands shaking, Hagrid spent a minute fumbling through his overcoat for a candle before locating his umbrella instead. Heart racing, he broke the tip off his final arrow and lit the shaft with a tap from his umbrella. It only took him a moment to locate two round holes in the palm of Grawp's hand.

"Yeh've been bitten," Hagrid explained, taking hold of Grawp's good hand and giving it a tug. "We've got ter get yeh ter Madam Pomphrey."

Grawp didn't object, but he only managed to take a few steps before collapsing to his knees with a ground shaking thud.

"Come on, Grawp," Hagrid said with another tug. "We've got ter get ter the castle."

But it was obvious that, although Grawp desperately wanted to follow Hagrid's advice, he simply couldn't go any further. The poison had advanced too far.

By now, all the centaurs present had become aware of their plight, but it was Bane who approached.

"He will not be able to reach the castle."

"He has to," Hagrid countered with a sniff. "I just have ter think of a way."

"We have healers as well," Bane continued. "They're already on their way here."

"They ever treated a Chimera bite before?" Hagrid pressed.

"They have not," Bane replied, "but neither, I think, has your Madam Pomphrey. There are many snakes in the forest and our healers are skilled. They will find a cure."

"Yeh only treat yer own kind," Hagrid sighed. "Yeh've made that clear."

"The giant led to the defeat of the Chimera," Bane replied. "That is not something we will soon forget."

"Why should I trust yeh?"

"We trusted you and it saved our forest," Bane said. "Trust us and we will save your brother."

"Fine," Hagrid said. "Grawp, the nice centaurs are gonna take care o' yeh. An' if they don' then do ter them what yeh did ter that snake."

"Ordinarily our medicine is not for human eyes," Bane continued, looking slightly ruffled by Hagrid's last statement. "But if you wish to stay I believe we could make an exception. However-" he paused and seemed to battle with himself, "what we could read of the stars indicates a great conflict, and soon. You may wish to keep near your castle."

"There's trouble at the castle?" Hagrid asked, bewildered.

"If it hasn't begun yet, then it won't be long," Bane confirmed.

"Then I should go," Hagrid said, giving Grawp one last desperate look. "'Ere Fang."

He was so distracted by his worry for Grawp and Bane's warning about Hogwarts that Hagrid didn't realize that the Ministry needed to be informed that there was a Chimera in the area until he reached the edge of the forest. It wasn't something he wanted to do, considering the Ministry's tendency toward killing dangerous beasts, but there were a few small towns in the general vicinity, some of them Muggle, and the Chimera had only sworn to the safety of the Forbidden Forest.

Hagrid reached his cabin a few minutes later and lit a fire in the hearth while Fang proceeded to soak everything else while shaking the water out of his fur.

With some reluctance, Hagrid kneeled in front of the fire, tossed in a pinch of floo powder, shouted, "Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures," and plunged his head in.

Nothing happened. Hagrid's head remained in his fire while he got a prime view of the back wall of his hearth and inhaled a large amount of hot ash. Perplexed, he pulled his head out and tried again with the same result. It wasn't until a minute later that he realized the floo network must have been shut off and that the only reason to shut off the floo network was if Hogwarts was in immediate danger.

Jumping to his feet, Hagrid raced outside to look at Hogwarts properly. There was no outward difference that he could define, but there was something ominous about it, maybe in the way the light flickered in the windows, but Hagrid was suddenly certain that there was something far more serious going on than a Chimera in the Forbidden Forest. Without giving it a second thought, Hagrid ran toward the castle as fast as he could.

He never reached it. Hagrid couldn't have been more than ten paces from the front steps when the entire castle suddenly disappeared and he found himself unexpectedly ankle deep in the flooding lake, as though he'd only imagined that a huge castle separated the two positions. Surprised and confused, Hagrid turned back and found Hogwarts looking just as solid as ever, but when he approached again the same thing happened, as though he'd Apparated from one side to the other. But Apparating on Hogwarts' grounds was impossible, and he'd never gotten his license.

Turning back again, Hagrid was dismayed to discover that the majestic castle he'd called home for more than fifty years had been suddenly and mercilessly reduced to a battered ruin.

"No!" Hagrid whispered, sinking weakly to his knees and closing his eyes, unable to look.

He'd failed, he wasn't fast enough, he'd wasted his time in the forest, never once considering that the school might be in danger as well. Now it was too late and they were all gone, the school and the teachers and the students. With a horrible jolt, Hagrid realized that he was actually grateful that Dumbledore hadn't lived to see this. Just the idea of the old Headmaster's disappointment was enough to make Hagrid's insides squirm.

Sill unable to look at the castle itself, Hagrid opened his eyes and stared as his knees, then noticed something unexpected; he was sliding slowly backwards through the mud. Wondering if this was some final enchantment the Founders had placed on the school to ensure that it would never be found again if it was destroyed, Hagrid finally looked up to gaze upon the castle one last time and found it undamaged and just as majestic as ever.

Hagrid didn't wait for his mind to catch up, for the confusion or explanation it would surely bring; he simply got up and ran toward Hogwarts as fast as the invisible force that was still trying to push him away would let him. This time, the castle didn't disappear as he approached or turn to rubble before his eyes. It held firm as be barreled up the steps and through the door.

After seeing so many conflicting images of Hogwarts, Hagrid hadn't been sure what to expect inside, but what he found was the Entrance Hall. It had clearly come off worse in some fight but was whole if not entirely in one piece. Hagrid allowed himself a ragged sigh of relief before running up the stairs.

He snuck up on the first group of Death Eaters he found and knocked them all out easily without even troubling himself with his umbrella. He continued this way for some time, summarily laying waste to any Death Eaters he came across, sometimes taking advice from portraits and ghosts about their locations but mostly ignoring them in favor of searching out the Death Eaters himself. Sometimes he earned himself a few cuts and bruises, but he always came off better than his opponents in the end.

Hagrid didn't consciously expend any attention on figuring out what he'd seen outside of Hogwarts earlier, but eventually he realized the obvious explanation anyway: what he'd seen had been the result of someone's fiddling with the wards around Hogwarts. It made him so angry to think of Dumbledore's cunningly constructed wards being violated in such as way that he threw the next Death Eater against a wall with far more force than he'd originally intended.

Hagrid was in such a state of battle rage that he lost all sense of time and some of space, so he was a bit surprised to find himself face to face with Professor McGonagall and a few others on the fourth floor.

"Come with us, Hagrid," she said, turning toward the staircase. "We're abandoning Hogwarts."

"We can'!" Hagrid gasped, turning to follow her nevertheless.

"We can and we are," she replied sharply, sounding as though she'd had this argument several times already.

"Bu'... the students," Hagrid stammered.

"Are already safe in Saint Mungo's," McGonagall said.

Fresh out of arguments, Hagrid followed her down the stairs.

"Alright there, Hagrid?" Bill asked, falling into step beside him.

"Fine," Hagrid grunted, though he nearly revised what opinion when he followed Bill's gaze to his own arms and chest, which were cut and bleeding in many more places than he remembered getting injured. "Why don't we take a Portkey from 'ere?"

"We're trying to take down as many Death Eaters as we can before we go," Bill explained as they turned a corner and paused to do exactly that. "Hopefully it will be easier to take Hogwarts back when we can muster the force together. I trust you approve."

Hagrid did, but couldn't voice the opinion because they'd just engaged another group of Death Eaters. It was odd. Hagrid could have sworn he'd already cleared these corridors, but either he hadn't been as thorough as he thought, or there were far more Death Eaters in Hogwarts than he'd supposed. Either way, it was clear that that McGonagall had been correct in her decision to abandon Hogwarts. Loathe as Hagrid was to admit it, they simply couldn't regain control of the castle with their tiny group.

They reached the grounds a bit the worse for the wear, but not nearly as much as the Death Eaters they'd encountered. Hagrid offered up a kettle that happened to be in his coat pocket to use as a Portkey and they all rode it to Saint Mungo's.

McGonagall disappeared almost immediately upon arriving, presumably to seek out the students, leaving Hagrid and the others in a crowd of very loud people. Eventually they found their way to a few Healers, who led them away to see to their injuries.

Hagrid's cuts were healed easily enough, but the Healers said that the damage was extensive enough to make him stay for observation, effectively dashing Hagrid's intentions of returning to the Forbidden Forest to check on Grawp. Hagrid supposed that Grawp was in good hands with centaurs, although he wished that he'd thought to stress the importance of good behavior before leaving. However, when word filtered back to Hagrid that Harry and Ron were still in Hogwarts, nothing could stop him from departing immediately to rescue them. Nothing, that was, except for five simultaneous stunning charms, which was precisely the method the Healers used.